A'luet
by Regin Ash
Summary: Left on his own after his mother's clan is slaughtered by two abominations, A'luet is found by a male yautja and brought to his clan, only to find out it is his father's, whom he never met. Will An'nu, A'luet's father accept him?
1. Chapter 1

Life was over for A'luet in the cruel flash of a jagged metallic bladed tail. It was night when he finally became aware of gasps of air. Thinking the monster was back; he cowered closer to the ground, only to realize it was he who was making the noise. Slowly he sat up, wheezing on the thick smell of blood, Yautja blood. Standing clumsily, he took the couple of steps back to camp and surveyed the damage that had been done. Female yautjas and children were slaughtered, green ichor dripping from their wounds.

Dazed, A'luet stumbled among the dead, searching for the one person who had mattered to him. He found her less than a few minutes after searching. Her wise and once beautiful face now ravaged and ripped in half. A'luet hit his knees next to his dead mother.

"Ma'da…" he whimpered, shaking her though deep down he knew it was no use. Nothing left for him; he sank to the ground and nuzzled as close as he could to her; shut his eyes and dreamed.

_The air was alive with the children laughing and poking each other in a war. Illeya and the other female yautjas shook their heads and rolled their eyes. Near Illeya was her ten-season-old son, A'luet. Quiet and not as outgoing as the other children, he spent his time around his mother and the adults, preferring their maturity to the immaturity of the children. _

_ Dac'shu, an older female nudged Illeya, "if your son is to win against a Kainde Amedha then he is going to have to toughen up Illeya."_

_ Illeya glanced at the older woman and sighed, "I know." She turned to look at her son who was watching a flying insect on a branch. _

_ "Perhaps it was wrong of you to mate with An'nu," Heth'rah sneered. _

_ Illeya fixed the woman with an icy glare. "Ell-osde pauk, fuck you, A'luet is not a mistake and his father is honorable."_

_ Heth'rah snorted, turning back to her work of mending her spear. Illeya returned to her own work, troubled. Was Heth'rah's comment really what the clan thought of her decision to mate with An'nu? _

_ Annoyed, she thrust her own spear down and called A'luet, who came running immediately. "Tomorrow you and I will go out and hunt, you need to start learning."_

_ His amber eyes swept to the women around his mother, some giving him encouraging smiles, others like Heth'rah, glaring. "Yes Ma'da."_

_ "Good. Go." She gave him a little push away from the adults. "Go to the children."_

_ He stood there, studying her like she was joking. He never associated with the children, mostly because he became the object of ridicule. _

_ "Go." She repeated more forcefully. _

_ His face crestfallen, he did as she asked, disappearing into the trees where Illeya and the others could hear the children practicing with sticks._

…_._

_ "Ah, look who it is," Dachande scoffed, "it's little A'luet." He shouldered his way past his two younger brothers to challenge A'luet himself. _

_ "Leave me alone," A'luet muttered, trying to pass the older yautja. However Dachande wouldn't have it. _

_ "Aw, you want me to leave you alone? Are you going to cry to Ma'dada, mommy?"_

_ A'luet ignored Dachande and attempted to get around him, but he was blocked by the other children. Sick of the yautja's game already, he turned around and started to head back to camp. _

_ "That's right you little S'luit-de, coward, you run back to ma'dada." _

_ A'luet's face was burning as he walked, angry at himself he kicked a stick aside; only to be run into by Viv'n, a recently blooded female. Her mask was gone, giving A'luet a view of her wild-eyed look and fear. _

_ "Viv'n?" He asked, reaching out to her._

_ She grabbed him in a vise grip. "Shut up, shut up…they can't know. They just can't."_

_ "Know what?" He whispered, frightened by the normally friendly yautja. _

_ Her green eyes trained on his amber ones. "It's inside me A'luet."_

_ Realization crashed down on the young one. He yanked himself out of her grasp, putting distance between himself and her. _

_ "I'll get Rhon'dah," he said. Rhon'dah was the clan's leader; she would know what to do. He turned and began to run, not before he heard the unmistakable sound of ribs cracking and then breaking. Frozen, he turned in time to see a chestburster rip itself free from Viv'n's chest, killing her gruesomely. The thing squealed and writhed on the ground, growing bigger by the second. _

_ Stumbling backwards, A'luet tripped on a downed tree as the thing pulled its way towards him. Jumping to his feet, he blindly ran through the trees. _

…_._

_ Cracking her neck, Illeya was just thinking about a dip in the nearby spring when she heard her son screaming her name._

_ "Ma'da, Ma'da!"_

_ She lurched to her feet with A'luet running straight into her, his tiny body shaking hard. _

_ "What is it? A'luet!" She held him away from her and shook him, "what's wrong?"_

_ "Z'skvy-de, Viv'n…she had a chestburster."_

_ Shock gripped Illeya for a moment before a throaty roar erupted from somewhere in the trees, yet not far from the camp._

_ "Chestburster? How in the name of Cetanu did Viv'n get a chestburster!" Heth'rah snarled. _

_ "It doesn't matter now," Illeya snapped. "Call in the children!"_

_ A female grabbed a horn and blew hard, signaling danger to the children still in the woods. A'luet could just see Dachande and the others running out of the treeline when a hybrid caught the unsuspecting male by the head, ripping it clean off his body. _

_ Behind A'luet, Heth'rah let out a grieved cry of rage; grabbing her combi-stick she raced towards the hybrid. _

_ "That's not the one," Aluet cried out, "that's not the one Ma'da."_

_ Illeya grabbed her own weapon and her son, turning to run through the camp. A body hit them both, thrown to the ground, Illeya glanced down and saw Rhon'dah, dead from a puncture to the forehead. Stalking towards her and her son was a growing hybrid, clawing and raking the molting flesh off of it, to reveal its mature skin. _

_ Illeya knew what had to be done. She turned while extending her stick and grabbed her son. "Run A'luet, run and don't look back." _

_ "Mo Ma'da, no." A'luet held onto his mother's hand. _

_ She shook him off with a growl. "Go A'luet, do not disobey me! GO." She shoved him, _

_ Shaking, he ran with Illeya shoving her combi-stick into the hybrid's face as it darted after him. _

…

_ He ran until he felt he couldn't run anymore, the roars from the camp were faded until he could heard nothing but the breeze and the trees swaying. Exhausted, he felt to his knees and passed out. _


	2. Chapter 2

It was hours before A'luet came to, his body aching from the hard ground. Sitting up slowly, he pulled his hand free from his mother's shoulder harness that had held her combi-stick. In his fitful sleep, he must have wrapped his fingers around it. Carefully so not to disturb her, he pulled her spear out from under her. Squeezing it in the right places, like she had shown him, made it shorten. It felt like stealing, taking it, but she was dead. And rightfully, it was his now. Under normal circumstances, according to the teachings, he had to earn his right to carry the combi-stick; but it was all he had left of her, that and memories.

"O'tello Ma'da, goodbye.." He bowed his head and then stood.

…

He felt like he was walking in circles. He didn't know where he was; he had never been this deep in the jungle. He was tired, hungry and thirsty. It wasn't long before his keen hearing picked up on something stalking him. With exhaustive realization he remembered that he didn't see the hybrids' bodies among the dead. _They must have survived and now they are going to kill me._

Surprisingly, he wasn't afraid. His mother was dead, his clan, dead. He had nothing left. Slowly, he turned, his hand reaching for the combi-stick on his back. If he was going to die, then he was going to die fighting, like his mother.

There was nothing in the clearing that he could see; yet he still extended the spear, readying himself.

He felt his courage waver when it charged out from the brush, its metallic teeth gnashing and its claws hooked. Emboldened, he jabbed at it with the spear, missing. The hybrid backhanded him with its large claw, sending him clear across the clearing and into a tree.

Darkness threatening to take him over, he started to panic when the hybrid jumped at him. Letting out a frustrated cry, A'luet decided to take his chances and throw the spear at the creature. He hit it in the head, not fatally but enough to piss it off. It hit him again, this time in the chest, hard enough to feel his ribs crack. He was thrown backwards, landing on his back. It sprung forward, pushing him down, straddling him.

It opened its mouth impossibly wide, strings of saliva hitting A'luet in the face; its inner mouth coming out to kill him, impregnate him, he didn't know which.

As he opened his mouth to scream out, something shot the hybrid clean through its skull, its blood spraying A'luet. He flinched, expecting the blood to burn him but it didn't. Shock rendering him useless, he could only lay on the forest floor with the dead hybrid on him and watch as his savior came towards him, its plasma caster lowering behind its shoulder.

Too stunned to do anything, he let the darkness consume him.

….

A tough calloused hand grasped A'luet by the chin, tilting his head to the sides. Slowly he opened his eyes and blurrily focused on a figure hunched down next to him. The creature-a yautja A'luet noted by the long dreadlocks; let go of him and pulled its mask off.

"You awake kid?"

Swallowing, he nodded.

The yautja, a young male, snorted. "-The hell were you thinking?"

Shaking, A'luet sat up and glanced at the hybrid, dead next to him. Its head already separated from its grotesque body. The yautja noticed his look.

"Don't worry I took care of your dirty work."

"It's not my dirty work," A'luet snapped.

The yautja raised his brow, "oh? Forgive me, I'll just conveniently forget watching you attempt to give the abomination a hair cut."

A'luet gave the gash he had given the hybrid a glare. The yautja snorted again, "Come on, get up."

A'luet obeyed, getting to his feet. Standing he saw he barely reached the yautja's bicep. "Where's your clan?"

A'luet bowed his head, the memories of the slaughter coming back with a vengeances. Silently he shrugged.

The yautja clucked, annoyed. "I don't need this…C'jit!" He turned back to A'luet. "Come on, I'll take you back to my ship. We'll deal with this there." He picked up the head and started to walk away, but paused when A'luet didn't follow.

He watched, his eyes narrowed as the boy bent and picked up a combi-stick he had tossed aside.

"A bit young for that, don't you think?" He snipped.

The kid glared at him in response.

"Whatever, be prepared to have it confiscated once on the ship." The yautja walked off, not bothering to see if his charge followed.

…..

It was close to daybreak when a large ship finally came into view, seated on the edge of a large cliff. The ship was huge, for A'luet he could barely comprehend a machine being so big. He had always lived in the jungle; small huts and lean-tos were his MO. Two guards stood watch outside an open door. At seeing them emerge from the brush, they grinned.

"Kulak, about time you returned," one greeted.

"You owe me," the other one crowed, giving his partner a playful jab. "I told you a whole night he'd be gone…come on now."

Grumbling, the first yautja slapped several odd looking metal devices into his hand. "Don't tell anyone." Returning his attention to Kulak, his grin faltered a little. "That an abomination?"

"Yup." Kulak walked by the two male yautja who did double takes at seeing A'luet.

"Whose the runt?" A'luet heard one of them ask. Kulak didn't answer. The ship was made of metal and big, the deeper they went into the vessel the more crowded it got with yautja. Kulak took a sharp right and dumped the hybrid's head on to a table.

"I'll be back for that later," he said, clapping a fellow yautja on the shoulder. A'luet grimaced as the yautja peeled skin off the creature he was skinning. "Come on runt." He pushed A'luet none too gently out of the side cubicle.

Just when A'luet didn't think they could walk any further into the ship, Kulak stopped at a door. "Not a word," he shook him a little. "Not that you talk anyway," Kulak snorted and pushed the door open.

The cavern was large with high ceilings and a large atrium window overlooking the steep drop off of the cliff outside. At the window stood three large, well-built, yet clearly aged yautja.

"My Elders," Kulak dropped to his knee, bowing his head respectfully, with his left hand clenched in a fist over his chest.

Next to him, A'luet stood confused. No one had ever bowed in his clan. His had been one of the few that had operated as equal partners. Sure the children respected their elders, but it was nothing like this.

Kulak noticed the kid still standing and quickly yanked him down. "Bow your head before the Elders, you idiot," he hissed under his breath.

A'luet did so quickly.

Before them, a yautja who appeared older than the other two drew closer. "Rise Kulak."

Kulak obeyed, again dragging A'luet up with him.

"Whom may I ask is this?" The Elder came closer until A'luet could smell him.

"I found him-" Kulak paused, trying to find the words to describe what A'luet had been doing. He changed his explanation. "An abomination was on the loose my Elder, I took care of it easily because it was too busy with this D'jilk, child."

The Elder stiffed at hearing about the hybrid. "It's dead? You're sure?"

"Yes my Elder." Kulak puffed his chest out in pride. "I'm sure."

The Elder calmed and glanced at the other two who also relaxed. "Good." He returned his attention to A'luet and circled him slowly, reaching out and feeling his dreadlocks, studying his spots. "Now, what is your name?"

"A'luet." His voice was quiet, he felt like he hadn't talked in ages.

"Did the abomination separate you from your clan?"

A'luet found he couldn't answer. Numbly he just nodded.

"Then we will reunite you with your clan." The Elder turned to his fellow Elders. "Find Pho'e." He rested a hand on A'luet's thin shoulder. "He is our best tracker."

"Wait," A'luet blurted out as one of the Elders started to leave. "I lied. My clan is dead."

"Dead?"

"Yes, the hybrids, they killed them all."

"Hybrids?" Kulak snarled. "There's more than one of them and you didn't tell me!"

"Kulak, stay your temper," the Elder growled.

"No Elder, because of his silence, I probably led them right to us!"

The thought dawned on the old one's face. "Pauk," he grated.

"There were only two," A'luet quailed under the rising tension. Kulak was glaring at him.

"Let me go out Elder, I'll finish it off."

The Elder considered it, "mo Kulak. If these abominations killed an entire clan, a female clan, as much as the hunt excites us, now is not the time. We leave, ready the engines."

"But-"

"No Kulak," The Elder snapped. The young male shot A'luet a nasty look behind the old yautja's back. "Kulha, take A'luet to the bath, he's filthy."

The yautja came forward, sweeping A'luet into his outstretched arm. A'luet followed the Elder to the hull of the ship, passing many rooms; some of which had warring yautja. A'luet flinched as the sound of a body hit one of the doors they passed.

Kulha gave the door a dull once over. "Males will be males," he said kindly, "my mother used to tell me that all the time."

A'luet just looked at him.

Finally they reached the bath; as Kulha explained the works of the tubs A'luet found his attention drifting to a large glass door where a large gym like room was crowded with yautja all circled around two males fighting.

One yautja was coal colored, but the other was light greenish-yellow with odd reddish stripes lining his throat. A'luet watched in wonder as the yellowish male darted out of the way of the coal yautja, and quickly whacked his adversary with a large pole.

Kulha joined him at the door, interested in what had pulled the young one away. "Ah, J'mper is one of our best warriors…lost his bottom jaw to a Kainde Amedha. And the other is another one of our rising warriors, has just been blooded."

"Who is he?" A'luet asked, awed by the yautja's skill and precision.

"An'nu," The Elder studied the child's fixed expression before tapping him on the shoulder. "Best to get a bath, you are covered in mud. I'll take this for you."

Adrenaline shot through the young yautja as he felt the Elder's hand brush his for the combi-stick. "No," he pulled away. "I want to keep it."

Kulha watched him carefully. "It is not custom for a child to carry a combi-stick. You earn it."

"It was my mothers, it's mine."

Kulha twitched his mandibles, "very well, keep it for now. You will have to give it up soon."

Not trusting the Elder, A'luet took it with him into the bath area. Feeling the bruises as he stripped, he slid into the tub and tried to relax in the warm water, holding the combi-stick.

Sudden voices scared him as several yautja came into view, one bending down to start a bath near by.

A'luet recognized the coal yautja, J'mper and the other, An'nu among the group.

One yautja paused in the middle of removing his armor. "Didn't know we were running a day care center."

The group turned to see what he was talking about, their gazes landing on the skinny boy in the tub. J'mper said something to An'nu, his voice guttural due to his mouth injury.

"You lost D'jilk?" the same yautja who had cracked the day care joke, demanded.

A'luet wished the yautja would stop calling him that; he wasn't a child. A child implied the mewling babies the young mothers in his Clan had.

He shook his head.

The yautja grinned, sarcasm in his walk as he strode up to A'luet. "When D'jilki speak to those better, they speak up."

"Mo, no. I'm not lost," A'luet answered, wishing the yautja would go away. He was quickly becoming worse than Dachande had ever been.

"You sure?" The yautja crouched next to him; close enough to snort hard, making A'luet's dreads move. "Because you're in my tub. See?" the yautja slid a claw over a scratched name.

"Bak, leave him alone." An'nu sounded tired.

"Shut it An'nu, I'm a little busy teaching a brat a lesson about taking others possessions."

J'mper growled lowly in his throat.

Bak tilted his head, "where'd you get the combi-stick?"

"None of your business," A'luet snapped.

Bak froze, either stunned at his outburst or thinking up a new way to tantalize him. A'luet saw the other males suddenly take interest after Bak's mention of the spear. Bak grinned evilly.

"Bak!"

The yautja quickly turned around, his bullying demeanor cowed at the sight of the Elder. He dropped to his knees, as did the others.

"Don't you have slime to wash off?" The Elder came to a stop above A'luet, his powerful presence enough to make even him shake.

"Yes my Elder," Bak wasted no time scurrying back to his haven, among the other males.

The Elder fixed the group with a glower that told them clearly to back off. "Are you done A'luet?" His question much gentler than his previous growl at Bak.

A'luet nodded and pulled himself out of the tub, quickly donned his clothes and followed the Elder out.

…

"I don't see any major problems," Na'giest the ship's head medic murmured as he checked A'luet head to toe. In the shadows, the Elder-Zeke A'luet had learned his name was, waited.

"Attacked by a Kainde Amedha hybrid you said?"

Zeke nodded, "that is what Kulak relayed to me. A'luet, I understand it may be too soon, but we must know your story."

A'luet tightened his hand on the spear. "Two of the clan were impregnated, I watched the Z'skvy-de of one and ran back to camp. We were attacked. Our leader Rhon-dah was killed almost instantly-"

"Rhon-dah?" Na'giest sputtered. The medic closed his eyes, "pauk!"

Zeke closed his own eyes for a moment, "I am sorry Na'giest."

The medic only growled out a response, bending the edge of the metal exam table A'luet was sitting on. Uneasy, A'luet scooted away from him.

"Rhon-dah was Na'giest's sister," Zeke explained quietly as the medic left the room. "Please continue."

A'luet recounted how his mother had told him to run and how he returned hours later to find all the clan dead. He had wandered aimlessly, until he was attacked by one of the hybrids and then Kulak saved him.

Zeke nodded, his eyes landing on the spear. "It means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

A'luet didn't answer, expecting to fight with him too like he had Kulha.

"Don't worry, I won't separate you from it. It's all you have now."

The two looked up to see Na'giest return. "We ought to chose wisely where we place him Zeke, most the males onboard this ship would itch the chance to use him for their own strengthening."

Zeke nodded. "That's why I already know where I am putting him."

….

The door slid back into the wall, granting A'luet view of a spacious room where two males were tiding up. J'mper's ruined face brightened in interest as he thumped his bent over roommate. The roommate straightened, An'nu.

"J'mper, An'nu, I saw you already met A'luet earlier today. He is going to be bedding with you for now." Zeke held A'luet in place like he knew the boy wanted to bolt.

J'mper formed a few complex signs with his hands.

Zeke let go of A'luet, "J'mper is greeting you."

Shyly, A'luet shot the deformed yautja a quick glance. The yautja seemed to understand his uneasiness, signing at Zeke who smiled. "I know you'll take care of him." The Elder left, leaving A'luet with his new roommates.


	3. Chapter 3

For the longest moment, no one moved. J'mper looked between his roommate and the young D'jilk who had been dropped off by the elder. An'nu purred a little, quickly busying himself with closing up his weapon case that held his shuriken and gauntlet. He heard J'mper tread closer to him, nudging him at the elbow.

Glancing at his friend, An'nu saw J'mper twitch his eyes the D'jilk's way. Trilling annoyed since he knew what the yautja was asking him to do, he turned around to face the kid who hadn't moved from the door.

_Weak, this why the women deal with such things,_ he thought. The expression on the D'jilk's face was praying that the door would open back up. Deciding to do what the kid wanted, An'nu tapped a code into the device on the wall behind him. The door slid open, making the kid jump.

"You want to go, go."

The boy only stared at him, mute.

Beside him, J'mper fixed An'nu with an annoyed look. 'Really?' he signed. An'nu ignored him.

Hitting the device with his fist, the door shut. "Pauk, what was Zeke thinking?" He growled quietly. "We have no room for a D'jilk."

"I'm not a D'jilk," a small voice spoke up.

An'nu barely looked over, "could have fooled me."

J'mper growled lowly in his throat, a warning; and clicked his top mandibles.

"I'm not," the kid's voice took on a new tone, menacing almost.

An'nu bristled a little, the challenge naturally arousing his instincts to cuff the insolent D'jilk. He opened his mouth to knock the kid down a few pegs verbally, but J'mper signed rapidly in his face.

An'nu sighed, deciding to wait on throttling the D'jilk, at least until the brat's been fed.

….

"Leave the spear here," An'nu shouldered his harness on and cracked his neck. Near him, A'luet tightened his hold on the combi-stick. An'nu glanced down at him, "did you hear me? You don't need it in the hall."

A'luet didn't know what the hall was, but he wasn't leaving the spear anywhere. What was it with everyone on this ship trying to separate him from what was his? This never would have happened in his Clan. The women in his Clan may not have liked him, but they respected possessions.

J'mper cocked his head thoughtfully, watching the kid's face as he started at An'nu. The scarred yautja turned, opening his own weapon chest with a clack. He motioned to the child to put the spear in it. When the boy hesitated, J'mper showed him the lock.

Hating himself, A'luet knew once he put the spear in the yautja's chest, he probably wasn't going to see it again; but he was tired of fighting these males. Dejectedly, he placed it inside and watched as the tall yautja shut the case.

…..

The hall turned out to be a large cafeteria like room where hundreds of yautja sat and ate together. So many, too many. A'luet felt lost as he tried to stay in between the aloof An'nu and the doting J'mper.

Arriving at a large counter, An'nu grabbed two trays, handing the second one to J'mper who jerked another one off the unit for A'luet. A'luet didn't miss the meaningful glare J'mper shot his friend. The food was different; A'luet didn't recognize anything. Finally he caught sight of fruit and settled for it, even though he would pay for it later with the screaming hungries.

"Ah, look who it is," an arrogant voice sounded to A'luet's right. Bak was there with a few of his cronies, his eyes glittering maliciously. "The babysitters."

J'mper flipped his finger up, as a signed 'fuck you.'

Bak scoffed, "be careful J, wouldn't want you to add a lost finger to your list of lost appendages."

J'mper snarled enraged, starting for the rude yautja. A'luet jumped out of the way of An'nu who hurriedly blocked J'mper from beating Bak.

"No, no J'mper, he's not worth it, he's not…"

Bak grinned, spreading his mandibles excitedly. Giving A'luet a stare down, Bak sauntered off with his pack.

J'mper let a breath of pent up air out with a whoosh and jerked An'nu off him. Without a glance anyone's way, he grabbed his tray and left A'luet and An'nu.

….

An'nu and J'mper were silent through eating and stayed that way as they returned to the room. A'luet watched as J'mper pulled some blankets and fur from a closet and layered them into a bed in the corner, out of the way. Tentatively, A'luet tiptoed near it and waited until the two adults disappeared somewhere in another room before nuzzling into it. Not wanting to see them, he dug as deep as he could, hiding his whole body under the covers and fell asleep.

…

An'nu laid down, not liking J'mper's soured attitude. The yautja had taken the loss of his bottom jaw hard. Females were already too damn picky when it came to mating. J'mper's injury just made him even more less likely to be found suitable as a mate. _Shouldn't matter, _An'nu thought angrily, _J'mper is a decent warrior, killed several Kainde Amedha and well on his way to killing more._ _His looks shouldn't matter._

Whimpers interrupted his dark thoughts. Silently, he sat up, listening. The quiet whines coming from the mass of blankets J'mper had assembled for the D'jilk. Across the room, An'nu saw J'mper stir, also listening.

An'nu closed his eyes and let himself fall backwards onto his pillow. Cetanu, if he was going to have to put up with a whining D'jilk then there was going to be some serious consequences. Just as he heard Ma'da being uttered, he growled and grabbed his boot, chucking it at the lump on the floor.

"Shut it," he snarled.

Satisfied that the D'jilk fell silent, he settled down and closed his eyes.

…

Some time later A'luet woke to movement around him. Peeking out under the fur he saw An'nu and J'mper dressing. Slowly so not to draw attention to himself, he slid back under and laid still. It had been his first official night of sleeping alone. Illeya had always let him sleep with her, partly for protection and partly because the gesture made A'luet feel safe. But he was alone, truly. Greif making a lump rise in his throat, he shut his eyes and willed himself to sleep again.

…..

**Next Day**

J'mper cocked his head, studying the bed he had made. The kid hadn't moved from the spot in more than twenty-four hours. An'nu caught his gaze.

"What's up?"

"The D'jilk," J'mper murmured, his speech slurred from his injury. 'Hasn't moved,' he signed.

An'nu glanced at the bed where he could see the outline of the kid's body. Rolling his eyes, he set his gauntlet down and went over, nudging the kid.

"Hey, hey kid."

No response.

An'nu glanced back at J'mper who watched him expectantly. With a frustrated growl, he reached down and yanked the covers back. The kid was silent, not moving. Unease threaded through the yautja, "C'jit," he swore. "Stay here," he ordered and left the room.

…

An'nu watched Zeke paced and Na'giest examined the kid. Zeke looked up when Na'giest finally straightened.

"Well?"

Na'giest sighed, "I've seen this before Elder in other orphaned children, but never to this degree."

An'nu glanced at Zeke who was fixated on Na'giest, waiting.

"-the D'jilk has given up the will to live. The other children I've witnessed have had sadness yes, but never this, never preferring to die."

_Given up the will to live?_ The thought was foreign to An'nu. The will to live had everything to do with the hunt, gaining honor, not curling up in a ball and simply dying after a parent dies.

"What should be done?" Zeke took a step closer, studying the child's blank eyes himself.

"I'll hook him up to tubes, if he isn't willing to take care of himself, then we have no choice but to do it for him."

Zeke nodded, "good. I'll be back later." The Elder towed An'nu out of the room. Once far enough away, he turned to him. "Has anything happened An'nu? Anything to bring this on?"

An'nu shook his head, "no my Elder. I mean, we haven't coddled him like a female would." He gave a half shrug.

Zeke purred, thinking. "Perhaps we should call your sister home."

"Issa? You can't be serious."

"Your feud is going to have to end An'nu," Zeke growled severely, "you know how women get when we males piss them off."

An'nu did know and realized he didn't want to get any more on his sister's bad side. "My Elder, she is different. She knows no better than I how to raise a child-"

"I didn't ask you to raise him," Zeke interrupted. "But you're right. No Issa for now. Alright, I'll check on the boy later." With that, he left An'nu in the hall to stare after him.


	4. Chapter 4

J'mper sat up as An'nu came through the suite door. 'Well?' he signed when An'nu didn't offer any news right away.

An'nu shrugged, "the kid caved. Trying to wither away I guess. Na'giest has him hooked up to some tubes to keep him hydrated."

J'mper hung his head, rubbing his fingers. 'I know how he feels.'

An'nu didn't reply. Sighing, J'mper stood and opened his weapon chest, pulling out the kid's combi-stick.

'I'm going to go give this to him.'

An'nu glanced at him on his way by, heading into the next room, his gaze landing on the spear. J'mper noticed his friend pause, his eyes on the combi-stick in his hand. 'What's wrong?'

"Can I see that?" An'nu held his hand out, waiting for it. Interested, J'mper handed it over.

An'nu studied the spear's exterior, its feel very familiar. "Where have I seen you before?"

J'mper cocked his head.

Then it hit An'nu, hit him hard, like a kainde Amedha abomination he wasn't ready for.

"What?" J'mper croaked, startling An'nu for a moment since his friend rarely talked. "What is it?"

An'nu took in a shaky breath, "this-spear…" He paused scarcely believing it. "-is-belongs… to a former mate. I haven't seen her in ten years."

J'mper clicked his mandibles. 'A mate?' He signed. For the longest time, neither of them spoke or moved. Then J'mper spoke, "son."

An'nu dropped the spear like it burned him. "No. I don't have a son."

J'mper narrowed his eyes. 'How else did he get the spear? You think it fell out of the sky and he happened to pick it up?' His signs were so fast and agitated, An'nu almost missed half of what his friend was spitting at him.

An'nu watched as J'mper bent and picked up the fallen weapon.

'Son.' He said again, this time in sign.

An'nu clenched his hands, not wanting to do something he'd regret. "Tell no one, I mean it J'mper, no one."

'Why? He has a right to know.'

"I'm not ready to be a father, I'm-I refuse to be saddled with a D'jilk. I hunt for honor, this D'jilk will stop all of that."

J'mper looked away, half heartedly signing something.

"What?" Anu'nu growled.

J'mper turned to his friend, his expression sad. 'Maybe it's what you need. You live for the hunt, not for someone.'

An'nu didn't know whether to be mad or stunned. J'mper wasn't finished.

'He needs someone, that someone is you An'nu.'

"Cetanu," An'nu snorted, "when did you become so soft?"

J'mper spread his mandibles in amusement, 'when you needed me as your nanny.'

An'nu sobered, his eyes landing on the spear. He reached for it again, taking it from J'mper. Sighing, he muttered a soft swear. "I'll be back." He left the room.

…

A'luet felt empty and tired. It had hurt as Na'giest pushed the tubes into his arms but he barely reacted. He'd lost track of time, not knowing when he had been brought into the medic room and he found he really didn't care. Footsteps entered the front room of the medical bay, after some soft murmuring the footsteps padded towards him. A shadow fell over him but he didn't move. A'luet didn't have to wait long before An'nu appeared around the bed, looking down at him.

"Can I sit?"

A'luet blinked, the yautja was asking him if he could sit? What was A'luet going to say to an adult, no?

An'nu took the kid's unresponsiveness as a positive and sat, rotating the spear in his hands. The yautja seemed nervous, his eyes darting to the door every few seconds. Finally he settled down, his eyes jumping to A'luet's face.

"My mate long ago wanted to name her son A'luet." An'nu laid the spear by the kid's side and took a breath. _No turning back now. _"Your mother was Illeya."

A'luet knew it wasn't a question. Her name being said made the lump return in his throat. An'nu jerkily ran his fingers through his dreadlocks, agitated.

"I guess…this would mean I'm-" An'nu paused. "-I'm your father."

A'luet didn't respond verbally, but he felt a jolt in his stomach.

"Your age is about right," Anu'nu continued, "the last time I saw your mother was ten years ago. I put this knick in her spear during one of our sparring matches."

"I don't have a father," A'luet murmured exhaustively. "Ma'da told me he died."

An'nu didn't know how to react to that. Illeya said he was dead? Why would she lie like that? He looked away from the kid; now that he was so close he saw the resemblance between the D'jilk and Illeya. His eyes were round and soft, abnormal for a yautja.

His stomach felt like rocks were forming in it. He knew why Illeya lied to her son about him. It was for the reason on how An'nu parted ways with Illeya ten years ago.

_ The lovemaking had been as always, wild yet sentimental. Illeya sat up slowly, her bright round eyes watching as An'nu dressed himself._

_ "You are leaving? Already?"_

_ An'nu cracked his neck. "I have a hunt tomorrow with J'mper, I can't skip it."_

_ The bed creaked as Illeya stood up and wrapped her arms around his chest, and leaned her head against his shoulder. Unlike other females who towered at eight feet, Illeya was An'nu's height. "Don't leave An'nu. Is the hunt really more important?"_

_ An'nu paused, "you know how I feel about you," he turned to her, running his fingers through her hair. "But I can't stay now. I'll be back."_

_ She snorted, letting her hands fall to her sides. "You lie." She took a deep breath. "I thought you were different than the others."_

_ An'nu clicked annoyed now. "It is not custom for a male to live life with his seed's mother." _

_ "Seed?" Illeya spat. "not a child, but a seed?"_

_ An'nu trilled, his finger reaching out to stroke the side of her face. Despite her anger, she let him, closing her eyes against his touch. "You have always been so passionate Illeya…its- different." _

_ She opened her eyes, studying him. "you won't stay, will you?"_

_ He drew his mandibles close to his teeth before shaking his head. "No."_

_ She looked down, and then stepped away from him. "Then go, go and don't look back, don't tell me you'll come back because you won't. You don't plan to return."_

_ He sighed, "I'm sorry." _

_ She wasn't listening; instead she donned her own clothes. "Just go."_

…

_J'mper looked up from the skull he was skinning to see his friend stalking towards him. "What's wrong?" He asked. _

_ "Nothing," An'nu growled. "Just get this heap in the air." _

_ J'mper stared after the yautja who disappeared into the small ship. Picking up his trophy, he saw a yautja female in the brush watching them. At seeing J'mper noticing her, she turned and disappeared. _

….

_How ironic,_ An'nu thought. _Illeya is dead and I'm left to take care of the seed I said I wouldn't have anything to do with._ The gods were punishing him; he could feel it.

That had been the hunt where J'mper lost his bottom jaw. An'nu had been so scared as he watched his friend choke on his own neon green blood. After that, An'nu walled off his emotions and refused to feel for anything or anybody. He fully believed his emotions got in the way of him saving J'mper's jaw.

Watching the boy now, An'nu felt slight remorse for being so cold towards him, the kid didn't deserve it; hell probably didn't understand either. Like he had told Zeke earlier, he wasn't nurturing, he didn't know how to be. _This kid doesn't need me, _An'nu tried to tell himself, but the boy's round amber eyes were saying otherwise despite his declare of not having a father.

"Pauk," he growled. He gestured to the spear. "J'mper wanted me to give this to you."

A'luet studied it and then his face, searching for a catch. An'nu guessed his thoughts.

"No catch, it's not our place to take it from you. It was your mother's; it's yours. If anyone tries to take it from you, I want to know about it."

A'luet didn't respond, but An'nu felt certain he understood him. Standing, An'nu jerkily reached out to the kid, only to realize he didn't know what he planned to do and so, dropped his hand to his side. "Get some sleep, I'll come back later."

Quietly he made his way out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

An'nu let himself into the training room, preferring to exercise out his feelings. Twirling his spear in one hand, he cracked his neck and shot a large stuffed bag that hung from the ceiling a look. Launching his foot out, he left a satisfying slice in its cloth face from his clawed toes. Not stopping, he spun in the opposite direction, slapping and jabbing hard with his combi-stick. With the intensity of his warring against the bag stepping up with each punch, kick and stab, the combi-stick slipped from his grasp and slid a good length away from him, deactivating into its shorter size. Annoyance flared in his chest, with a frustrated roar, he kicked the bag hard enough for it to swing loose from its hook high above him. Chest heaving, he simply stared at the equipment as it crashed to the floor.

"Satisfied?"

An'nu started to hit the floor only to have Zeke stop him.

"For Cetanu's sakes An'nu stand up."

An'nu straightened. "I'll fix it."

Zeke snorted, his eyes roaming to the downed punching bag. "Good spot for it, if you ask me." He returned his attention to the younger yautja. "Are you alright?"

An'nu took half a step back, his eyes on the floor. "A'luet is mine," He blurted out. "And I don't know what to do about it."

Zeke was quiet for a moment, and then he flicked his dreadlocks as he turned fast, pacing away from An'nu. Nervous, An'nu waited, wondering what was going to be said or done. "C'jit, if I had sat around and asked myself that same question when I took you in, you wouldn't be here An'nu."

An'nu couldn't help but roll his eyes. Zeke didn't play the uncle card too much, but when he did he had a knack for picking, in An'nu's opinion, the most inopportune times.

"Zeke," he uttered exasperated, "don't, not now."

"Then when An'nu?" Zeke got in his face, less than a hair away. "When? After that boy withers into nothing on that medical bed?"

Instinctively, An'nu growled, his mandibles flaring out. His body tightened as his body told him to fight the Elder, yet his head told him to be reasonable and Zeke could knock him on his ass easily.

Zeke read his mind, and thumped him hard enough to knock him backwards a few feet. "Don't be stupid kid, get ahold of yourself before you regret your actions."

Willing himself to be calm, An'nu stormed away to retrieve him combi-stick. "I keep asking myself what I did to deserve this…"

"You did nothing, if you ask me this is a-"

"Zeke-Don't." An'nu raised a finger to emphasize his point. "This is not a blessing, this is going to ruin me, the others are going to look at me like I am weak. And you know what? They are right; I'm saddled with a D'jilk. D'jilk are weak."

"You were a D'jilk once."

An'nu wrung the spear in his hands, Zeke was right but An'nu was determined to not show him what he thought.

Zeke took a step forward; soon he was by An'nu's ear. "That child needs you An'nu. He's had everything he's known taken from him-ripped from him. Do not disappoint him, I don't think he'll last the upset." Then Zeke was gone, exiting through the rear training room door.

…

Passing by the infirmary, An'nu paused and took a step back to peer through the door and saw J'mper passing by the medic assistant to the room he knew A'luet was in.

"Stubborn old coot," An'nu growled and followed his friend, ignoring the assistant as he tried to stop him.

A'luet was asleep, his head partially submerged under a blanket someone had put over him. 'he looks sad,' J'mper signed. An'nu ignored him too, his eyes only on his son.

Finally he hissed, "you think?"

J'mper stuck his tongue out, a very un-yautja-ish act. 'Zeke talked to you?'

An'nu sank down on to a chair by A'luet, "what, does the whole ship know?"

J'mper waved a hand at him, annoyed by his response. 'No. He came to me, asking where you were. What did he say?'

"Said you need to mind your own business."

"That rich," J'mper uttered. He was unable to produce his 's's. 'What really?'

"He said I needed to take care of him, not disappoint-him."

J'mper nodded, 'good advice.'

An'nu gave him a glare. "You're not supposed to agree J."

The scarred yautja shrugged. 'He's awake.'

An'nu glanced down and saw A'luet stirring. "Ma'da?" He asked sleepily.

The yautja didn't know what to say, so simply stayed quiet waiting for the kid to realize where he was.

J'mper was first to be focused on, slowly A'luet turned over to look at An'nu, a flash of disappointment flicking across his features. _Damn Zeke, damn everything and damn this kid. _

"How you doing?_" _he asked awkwardly.

A'luet didn't answer; instead he disappeared under the blanket. Annoyed, An'nu stood up and left the room leaving J'mper with A'luet.

….

"Ah, it's the babysitter,"

"Not now Bak," An'nu snarled. He balled his hands into fists as the rival yautja blocked his path from his door. "Get out of my way before I cave your head in."

Bak smirked, "then you'd fall out of favor of your elder uncle, you'd be a bad blood. I'd like to see you try anyway."

An'nu forcefully pushed the yautja out of the way and walked into his room. Thankfully it was a clan rule that no yautja could enter another's dwelling uninvited.

Seconds later, J'mper appeared. 'What was that?'

"What?"

'Your exit,' J'mper's sign was agitated. 'He looked for you seconds after you left.'

"Whatever," An'nu growled; as he pulled his spear loose from his sheath and tossed it onto his bed. He wasn't ready when J'mper charged him, knocking him back onto the mattress.

"Mo, not what-ever," J'mper shook him a little, startling him. 'Do not make me have to explain why his father is not there next time."

An'nu let out a roar, shoving his friend back and off him. "He doesn't know me J'mper! It doesn't impact him at all."

J'mper snorted, 'the look in his eyes tell me different, the sooner you get that through your head the better.'

"Get out," An'nu snarled.

"Mo," J'mper responded, 'I live here like you do.'

Rage building in his chest, An'nu abruptly passed J'mper, knocking his friend sideways as he slammed shoulders with the yautja. Levelheaded, J'mper didn't take it as a challenge and simply watched An'nu leave.

….

An'nu wandered the length of the ship, not paying any particular attention to where he was going. He wished the kid hadn't come on the ship, why hadn't Kulak just left the D'jilk to the elements? It would have been fair, and then the gods would have been in charge. Instead, stupidly Kulak brought the kid on the ship and now _he_ was stuck with him. _Unbelievable. Damn you Illeya._

"An'nu."

Freezing, he slowly turned and saw his sister Issa. "Where did you come from? You weren't on the ship."

She flicked her dreadlocks back and gave him a sour look. "I know that." She drew towards him, pulling her combi-stick sheath off her back. "I received a call from Zeke. He said it was urgent."

An'nu growled lowly in his throat. "You're kidding me."

Issa shot him a glare. "I don't kid T'Jierk An'nu."

An'nu bristled. Issa prided herself on being the only one who called him by his full name and got away with it.

"So, what is the problem that Zeke deemed so important that he had to interrupt my hunt?"

An'nu almost forgot about A'luet as he had been so focused on his sister being in front of him in flesh.

He sighed and moved away from her, leaning his back against the metal way of the ship. "I have a H'ijo'lo."

Issa narrowed her eyes. "A H'ijo'lo? Zeke called me back here for a D'jilk?"

"That D'jilk is your nephew."

Issa didn't show a reaction to his statement, not at first. Then she exploded. "You! Are you for real! You went and became a lou-dte Kalei, child-maker?"

An'nu growled a warning, "do not call me a lou-dte Kalei. If anything you females are the child makers since you carry them to term."

"Answer the question An'nu!" She got in his face, making him lean away, automatically submissive.

"Yes," he hissed.

She snorted, and took a step back. "You are unbelievable."

"Funny," he snapped, "Ma'da said the same thing about you when you left the clan to live in solitude."

"Ell-osde pauk," she spat.

"Back at you," he snipped.

She snarled lowly.

A throat clearing got their attention. Zeke was standing not far from them. "Are you two done?"

Issa marched up to him. "You brought me here, for this?"

Zeke observed her coolly. "This is a family matter Issa, it demands your attention."

She tsked, "I left my mother's clan to escape those whining D'jilks. I will not be roped down by my brother's mistake."

Unexpected anger rose within An'nu, a reaction he barely understood. Was he really mad at her referral to A'luet being a mistake? _He is a mistake. _

"I think you will feel differently once you've met the boy," Zeke murmured.

"I doubt it," Issa snapped.

"As an Elder, I'm asking you to go to the medical bay, now."

An'nu glanced at his sister, a known haughty female. She was glaring at Zeke. Just when An'nu thought she was going to put up a struggle, she complied, walking by Zeke.

…..

**POV of ISSA**

I walked into the medical bay, beyond the realm of anger. How dare Zeke drag me back here to my damn pup brother and his supposed D'jilk. I didn't care if Zeke was my uncle, I wanted to crush him with my bare hands, and maybe I could since I was almost taller than him.

The medical assistant was watching me, awe in his puny soft face, his mandibles clicking at me. I rolled my eyes and ignored him. "Where is it?" I asked, ready to leave.

"He," An'nu growled behind me.

"Whatever," I left my spear at the assistant's desk and followed Zeke to a curtained off area. At first I didn't see anything as my uncle pulled the curtain back. But then I saw a small body that shifted slightly; if it hadn't been for my keen eyesight I would have missed it.

Zeke was watching me and my brother was giving off a nervous musk. Males.

I took two steps forward, my eyes on the D'jilk who had surfaced above the covers to stare at me. His eyes were wide and round, full of innocence if any yautja could be innocent. _Weak. _

"A'luet," Zeke greeted quietly, "This is Issa-_your Aunt._"

I resisted opening my mouth and saying something I'd regret, not that I regretted much. "A'luet?" I turned back to my brother who lifted his head at noticing me glaring at him. "You mated with Illeya didn't you?"

"Enough," Zeke growled. "The boy has just lost her."

"I wasn't going to say anything, except that she was a bitch."

An'nu snarled at me, rage on his face. A strong hand grabbed me by the bicep, yanking me away from An'nu and towards Zeke.

"I said enough," my uncle growled in my face.

I yanked my arm out of his grasp, turning my scowl to the D'jilk who shrank back. "So my Elder, what would you have me do? Play housewife like your concubines?"

Zeke clicked his mandibles, clearly annoyed at me but I didn't care. He sat on the end of the D'jilk's bed and cracked his neck. "I'm moving you An'nu to a larger suite."

"What?" An'nu clearly didn't expect that.

"Issa, you will bed with him and help with A'luet's affairs."

I squeaked, "N-no…no."

Zeke tilted his head, "are you objecting?" his voice had taken on an almost deadly tone. I knew that tone well. Shaking in anger, knowing I had no choice I grabbed my spear and left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Na'giest deemed A'luet healthy enough to leave the infirmary. What An'nu wished the yautja would have said is that the medical bay was getting crowded and it was no place for a child to be with raging injured yautja who have returned from perilous hunts.

The room Zeke had had prepared for them was a past elder's room. J'mper was already there. An'nu shot Zeke a questioning look.

"J'mper likes A'luet and vise versa, so I thought it was appropriate to have him move as well."

"You thought huh?"

Visibly weakened, A'luet leaned into Zeke, making him look down. An'nu ran a hand through his hair and walked away, not wanting to be told to engage with the kid. A loud thud made him turn around and see his sister, looking none too happy, having just let her hunting bag hit the floor.

"I suggest you all get settled and then go eat in the hall, I will check on A'luet later." None of the adults missed Zeke's hidden threat. With that said, he gently disentangled himself from A'luet and left the room.

No one moved for several minutes, but then Issa pushed her bag over to her bed with her foot and then studied her surroundings. "So, how much training have you had?"

A'luet glanced at her mute, he knew what she was asking but he didn't want to answer in fear of getting a derogatory response from her. He had heard her comment about his mother in the medical bay. Finally he answered, "none."

She snorted, "perfect."

'He's ten,' J'mper threw her way.

She raised her brows to An'nu to translate. He only shot them both a look. "We should go to the hall, Zeke's going to be looking for us." He didn't wait for an answer from anyone and simply left.

After a moment, J'mper stood and guided A'luet out of the room with Issa muttering to herself and taking up the rear.

…

**Three months later**

Life hadn't changed much for A'luet but around him, life did. Across the room Issa was asleep, her jeweled dreadlocks reminding him of his mother. It was the end of the week, J'mper and An'nu hadn't returned from their hunt on a distant planet. Despite An'nu's cold disposition towards him, A'luet missed his presence and he definitely missed J'mper. Tried as he might, he couldn't shake the feeling that the two might not come back; then he'd be really alone, as he doubted Issa would stick around.

A ring over the intercom announced the approach of a ship, one ring for a travelling vessel, two for a clan ship. This was one ring. His heart jolting, A'luet sprung off his bed and ran out of the room to the loading dock. By the time he got there, he saw the ship being reeled in by yautja warriors, but not the passengers.

Turning he headed to the medical bay. He heard An'nu's voice before he saw him. The yautja let out a swear, before saying, "Na'giest, it's really not that bad."

"Sit down and shut up An'nu," the medic commanded.

Quietly, An'nu tiptoed to the door and peeked in. An'nu was sitting on the metal table with J'mper close by. On An'nu's right leg was a large gash surrounded by burns. Na'giest was busy with something at the counter and then he turned around with a small bowl of neon blue goop.

"Do you want me to numb you first?" the doctor asked.

An'nu shot him a look, "really?"

"I'll take that as a no," Na'giest bent down and carefully smoothed the blue icing over the injured area of the yautja's leg.

A'luet watched as An'nu grimaced, his hold tightening on the table. As if to block the pain away, he shut his eyes.

Swift footsteps behind A'luet made him turn and see Issa striding towards him. As if she didn't see him, she walked by him and into the medic room.

"What was it?" she asked.

"A Kv'ard," Na'giest answered. "You're lucky An'nu, the beast could have burnt your leg clean off."

"Yeah, I'll remind myself of that later."

Knowing he should leave before he was caught sneaking, A'luet left the medical bay.

….

Not one to adventure around the ship, A'luet found himself lost in the maze of halls not long after he left the medical bay. Desperate, he tried to recall familiar locations and nothing looked familiar to him.

Deciding to turn around and head back the way he came, he came face to face with Bak. Startled, A'luet jumped, never hearing the yautja or anyone for that matter in the hall.

"Frightened?" the yautja snickered.

"No," A'luet replied, annoyed at the reaction he gave the yautja. He tried to go around the adult but Bak quickly blocked his path.

"So, what is a little D'jilk doing down in the blooded dorms?"

"I'm lost."

"Oh? Lost." Bak put his hands on his knees and leaned down to A'luet's face. "Is that a fact?"

Tired of the yautja's game, A'luet snapped, "can you just bring me back to the elder section."

Bak stared at him for several seconds. "How about I just gut you for being an insolent little brat?"

It wasn't the yautja's words so much as it was the gleam that lit up his eyes that frightened A'luet. "I know the laws, you can't kill me."

"I didn't say kill," Bak hissed predatory-like. "I have a better idea." The yautja's hand shot out and grabbed A'luet by the arm, his other closing around his mouth.

"Bak!"

A'luet fell as Bak shoved him away from him. Kulak stood behind them with two other blooded warriors. Anger building up in A'luet from all the events that had crashed his world down around his ears made him act impulsively. "Ell-osde pauk."

The hall became tensely quiet as A'luet's snarl registered in the heads of all the males present. For A'luet, he instantly realized his mistake, as he had never sworn at an adult before. In his Clan, children were raised to be respectful of their elders. Swearing at an adult granted immediate severe punishment.

A'luet missed Bak's hand, but he felt the exploding pain across his cheek and the jarring impact as he hit the wall behind him. Fire lit the enraged yautja's eyes, as he came in for what A'luet believed was the kill. But then a large body came in between them, blocking Bak and tackling him to the ground.

"Get him out of here!" an unfamiliar voice roared, trying to beat Bak's own ferocious growls.

Kulak yanked A'luet up and hurried him out of the corridor.

Once far enough away, the young adult let go of him and pushed him in to the wall. "What in the hell were you thinking? If I was an asshole like Bak I'd drag your ass before the Elders for judgment."

"Why don't you?" A'luet snapped.

Kulak fixed him with a glare, "you want me to? Don't think I won't."

The remaining warrior, who had followed them, pulled their mask off and A'luet realized his initial thought that the warrior was male, was actually a young female.

"Really Kulak?" She asked amused, "you're going to send him for punishment for something you wish you had the balls for?"

Kulak tsked, but seemed to calm down at her question. "It doesn't matter, Bak has a big mouth, and it'll reach the Elders one way or another."

"Then we claim ignorance," she suggested.

He glanced at her, "Lie?"

"No, not lie, omit."

"Yeah, lie." He snorted. "Really, Neferi?" He turned his gaze back on the kid. "I'm dropping you off at your door and you are going to go in and not answer the door to anyone, understand me? Bak's not going to let you off this easy."

It took less than five minutes to come to the dorm room. If A'luet had known it would this easy to return to the room, he could have avoided the whole fiasco with Bak. _The gods hate me. _He went in and shut the door behind him.

…

Yautja greeted An'nu and J'mper as they passed their table. "How's A'luet been?" An'nu asked as getting some adequate food in him.

Across from him, Issa looked bored. "Quiet, he is like that little G'isho I had when I was nine. The silence and-innocence, it's annoying."

"I'm sorry," An'nu apologized dryly, earning a look from her.

He was saved from her retort by Kulak joining their table with Neferi. "You have to have a talk with your kid about staying out of Bak's way."

"Quiet huh?" An'nu snipped Issa's way, before turning to Kulak. "Why, what happened?"

"I didn't see all of it, but the D'jilk told Bak Ell-osde Pauk and Bak didn't take it too kindly. He got in one whack to the face before Tro-Jn tackled him."

'Bak hit Al'uet?' J'mper asked,

"Once," Kulak repeated.

"It doesn't matter if it was a tap Kulak," Neferi interrupted. "Bak shouldn't have done it, period."

"Well, from the way it sounds," Issa piped up, "A'luet deserved it. We would have lost our heads if we swore at anyone older than us when we were his age."

J'mper sat back in his chair, fuming.

"Well," Kulak began awkwardly, "Bak hit him hard enough that any one of us would have staggered from the blow. The D'jilk barely reaches my elbow."

Issa shrugged it off and turned her head away, observing the activity around them.

"Where's Bak now?" An'nu asked.

It was Kulak's turn to shrug, "still in the blooded dorms I think."

"Good," An'nu stiffly stood, "I'm going to go talk to my kid."

'Want me to come?' J'mper asked.

"No, stay here." An'nu left the cafeteria.

….

Instead of heading to the Elder's suites, An'nu turned left and headed downstairs to the blooded unit. It didn't take him long to find who he was looking for. Bak's gravelly tones echoed off the metal walls as he retold the story of the insolent brat.

The listening yautja saw An'nu coming before Bak and warily backed away. "Leave us," An'nu snarled. The yautja wasted no time clearing the hall.

Bak gave him a pointed leer. "Back from your hunt? I heard a K'vard got you, shame it was only your leg."

"Yeah well, better luck next time," An'nu lost the smirk on his face as he grabbed Bak by the next and pinned him against the wall. "The next time I hear about you bullying my son and then attack him, I will rip you apart with my hands."

"I'm not done with that f'ikur, brat," Bak growled, before spitting in An'nu face.

With a grunted sigh, An'nu wiped the spit off of his face and then drove Bak into the ground. "Tell me, what kind of rush do you get from bullying a kid? Is it like chasing your prey or is it the type of rush when you know you're about to lose an appendage?"

"You wouldn't," Bak growled.

An'nu grasped one of Bak's mandibles, "I believe you expressed interest a while back about J'mper's injuries."

Fear wafted off the pinned yautja. An'nu let him go. "Go near A'luet again, I'll kill you." He left Bak on the ground.

….

A'luet looked up to see An'nu enter the room alone. Inwardly quailing at the thought of whether An'nu had heard about his outburst to Bak, A'luet waited-preyed that the yautja would disappear into another room. Instead An'nu came forward slowly and reached out, lifting A'luet's face to meet his, studying something.

"I guess we're both wounded today," he murmured. "Can I sit?"

A'luet gave a little shrug and touched his face, trying to figure out what An'nu meant. He felt a split in his skin below his left eye. He didn't even know that Bak had left a mark, though now A'luet knew it was stupid of him to be so naïve.

An'nu sat carefully, stretching his injured leg out. "You know, K'vards are moderately dangerous if you're prepared for them. They become dangerous when you come across a particularly nasty one who swipes you in the leg and partially knicks your artery."

A'luet didn't know where An'nu was going with his rambling, but he wished the adult would just go away.

"-You know what I thought of as the K'vard came at my face?" An'nu suddenly asked.

"No."

"I thought of you."

A'luet glanced at An'nu and saw the yautja gazing at him. "Why?"

"I don't know, well I didn't know at first but I realized it later. I haven't been the most accommodating and nice to you in your time here. I was more focused on the impacts on my life then the impacts you've had on yours. That said I'm going to make a consistent effort to change that."

"I swore at Bak," A'luet admitted after a moment of silence.

"I know," An'nu murmured, "and I kicked his ass for you so you owe me."

Surprised, A'luet stared at him, "you did?"

An'nu grinned, "yeah, been waiting for years to do that. Guess you need to stick around and give me more reasons to unleash anger on pauks."

A'luet gave a tentative smile, the action feeling weird after not doing it for so long.

"Well, let's go get you some food to eat," An'nu stood up and went to the door with A'luet following him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Note: I apologize for the short chapter but most of these chapters are created late at night. I promise the next chapter will be way longer. Enjoy!**

Issa ignored the gruff trills of the males in the halls as she passed them, she knew they desired her and she made it well known that she didn't desire any of them; yet they were too dense to realize it. _Raging hormones._

She slammed her fist against the scanner outside the dorm she had been forced to live in with her brother, nephew and J'mper. "Come on," she growled when it didn't open fast enough. The room was empty, muttering low to herself; she grabbed her bag, stuffed a few of her belongings in it and then made to leave, but froze. J'mper had appeared from somewhere, drying his hands. Knowing he would only make stupid hand gestures at her, knowing she was ignorant; she stalked by him to the door.

"Leaving?"

She paused, and half turned. "So you do speak."

"It hard," he replied, taking half a step towards her. "I -ign in-tead"

She didn't have a response to that, hell it had taken her a few extra seconds to figure out what he was saying since he didn't pronounce the 's' in any of his words. "Oh," she finally said. "Yeah, I'm getting off this ship, away from these males and away from my pup brother. Besides he and his D'jilk seem to be getting along quite fine now."

J'mper studied her for a moment, "A'luet need family, you."

She raised her brow and then snorted. "Oh? I didn't know that, thank you," she said sarcastically.

J'mper rolled his eyes, annoyed at her. Turning away, he flicked a sign her way out of habit.

"What?"

He barely looked over his shoulder, "Women," he snapped. "You all high maintenance."

"Excuse me?" Issa let her bag fall off her shoulder. "I am not-" her words died in her throat. She knew she was.

"Don't leave, mi-take." He stated before disappearing into another room.

….

"You must always have your eyes on the enemy, especially with Kainde Amedha; they are stupid but cunning if that makes sense."

A'luet nodded, watching as An'nu spun a glass jar filled with a weirdly colored liquid his direction. He caught it and saw upon further analysis that a creature of some sort was in the liquid, with eight legs and a long tail.

"A facehugger," An'nu murmured. "The second stage in life for a Kainde Amedha."

"What does it do?" A'luet asked, feeling a little faint at the sight of it. He knew that obviously it hugged the face, but he wanted to know what happened after it attached to the face.

"It wraps its tail around your throat," An'nu explained carefully, watching his son for any reaction that would tell him to cut the explanation short. He saw none. "-Cuts your oxygen supply and submits its own supply for you while it sticks its tongue down your throat and impregnates you with a Kainde Amedha."

"And if one of us is impregnated by one of those?"

"It's a yautja's duty to kill themselves if they are impregnated. It is the only time suicide is looked at as the answer. Otherwise an abomination is born."

"Viv'n didn't," A'luet's words were so quiet, An'nu almost didn't hear him.

"Sometimes you don't have time," An'nu took the jar away from A'luet's unblinking gaze.

"She had time," the kid's voice hardened a little. "She told me not to tell."

An'nu exhaled slowly, "it's not easy A'luet to turn your weapons against yourself."

"So," a different voice interrupted them. They turned to see Issa striding towards them. "When are you going to train him?"

An'nu looked around and gave the eavesdropping yautja around them a glare that sent all of them back to their work. "When he's taller than my elbow Issa."

The female smirked, "really? So in a few months?"

"Mo," An'nu tried to ignore A'luet's rapt observation of them.

"Ma'da was going to start teaching me the day the Clan died, I can learn." A'luet looked excited.

Issa's smirk turned into a grin. "Excellent. I'll take him tomorrow."

"What? No." An'nu sputtered.

"And why not?" Issa had a face of innocence, a look that An'nu didn't trust.

"Because I said so."

"I go with her," J'mper appeared, earning an eye rolling from the haughty female. 'I'll keep an eye on her.' He added in sign.

"Where are you planning on going Issa?" An'nu demanded.

"Not far," she stated with her grin back on her beautiful face.

"How far is not far?"

She didn't answer, knowing she'd drive her brother's blood pressure up a few notches by deliberately not answering.

'Zeke is docking the ship by the H'Glade belt,' J'mper said. 'We can go to the small game preserve.'

An'nu sighed, "fine."

Issa possibly beamed, he still didn't know why she was so happy. She barely associated with A'luet as it stood. That was why he was pleased to wipe the happy expression off her face with his next words.

"I'll come with you."

"Are you for real?" She stuttered as A'luet uttered a happy 'really?'

"Yeah," An'nu placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Besides, don't you think we should have more family _alone_ time than on this ship day in and day out?" He guided A'luet by a furious Issa and J'mper who looked like he was holding in a laugh.

"You meant it?" A'luet asked once the two of them left the training room. "Coming with us tomorrow?"

"Yeah, might as well, not only because it means spending time with you but I love being the one to deflate my sister's high and mighty attitude."

A'luet smiled. "She's not so bad."

"Nah, she's not. Once you look passed the bitchiness."

An'nu's response reminded A'luet of something he had wanted to ask but never had the gumption to pursue. Taking a deep breath, A'luet asked his question. "Was my mother really a bitch?"

The question surprised An'nu; for a moment he tried to figure out what prompted the inquiry in the first place, but then he remembered Issa's snap when A'luet was still in the medical bay.

"No, I never thought she was. Issa didn't like any female I was with. The only person's opinion that's important about Illeya is yours, not mine, certainly not Issa's."

"Why didn't you stay?"

An'nu paused and waited for two yautja warriors to pass them in the hall. "Tomorrow I'm sure Issa will take you off with her alone, she'll tell you stories about how males are immature, males are gross…" He grinned a little at the last comment, "I was-" He tried to find the right words. "-young and stupid. I only wanted what every other male my age wanted. Honor and a thrill ride. The hunt I left your mother to pursue was the hunt that changed me. It was my first and J'mper's too. I went into the reserve with an ego, that wasn't the type of person your mother wanted. And I came out of the reserve with a friend barely alive."

"J'mper got hurt," A'luet finished.

An'nu grunted, "A facehugger, it jumped out of no where. J'mper's always been fast on his feet, he almost got out of the way but it still managed to latch onto part of his face. Since it couldn't impregnate him with its position on him, he tried to pull it off. It ended up breaking his bottom jaw and then ripping it off."

A'luet didn't know what to say to that. An'nu could tell by his expression.

"He's always said that he's better for it. Don't feel sorry for him, because he never has."

A'luet nodded.

"Well," An'nu started walking again. "I better show you how to pack for hunts because I'm sure Issa will spring that question on you tomorrow and expect you to answer it."

A'luet followed him back to the dorm where J'mper had somehow beat them and was napping. One of these days, A'luet was going to have to learn all the various hallways and their destinations. _Someday,_ he thought.


	8. Chapter 8

Aside from the elder ship, A'luet had never been on a squad ship. Decidedly smaller, A'luet felt a strange feeling of being cramped with three adults onboard, though the ship was easily four of his Clan's huts put together.

Looking out through the large half sphere window to the void beyond the glass, it occurred to A'luet just how small he was compared to the world around him. Light footsteps broke him of his thoughts as J'mper joined him at the window.

'We'll be landing soon,' he said. "It is not safe for someone who is not used to travelling in a ship to be standing.'

A'luet nodded, having quickly learned to understand J'mper's signs. He followed the yautja to a small half circle of a room where Issa was at the controls with An'nu next to her. J'mper waited until A'luet was seated behind his father before leaning over Issa's shoulder to observe the atmosphere they were entering.

Issa half glanced over her shoulder at him, "do you mind?"

"Mo," J'mper responded.

An'nu shot his friend a grin at his sister's plight.

'There's a storm,' J'mper continued as though nothing had happened. Nearby A'luet craned his neck to see over An'nu's chair in time to see a crack of lightening flick across the sky in front of them. Seconds later, A'luet felt the ship pick up speed and understood J'mper's warning. He wouldn't have been able to stand up at this fast of descent. Unnerved as he saw the ground speeding towards them, A'luet sat back and shut his eyes tightly, waiting instinctively for the impact. Then suddenly they came to a halt, hard enough to jerk A'luet forward in his seat.

"A'luet…A'luet."

He opened his eyes and saw An'nu standing in front of him.

"Aw, the D'jilk got motion sickness, pity." Issa sauntered passed to the back of the ship. A'luet observed both J'mper and An'nu shoot her a look.

"Come on," An'nu motioned for him to get up, "wouldn't want the priss to be kept waiting."

"I heard that," Issa snapped from somewhere in the dark.

A'luet didn't hear An'nu's reply because a series of 'clack' sounds drowned out everything. Bright sunlight spilled into the ship as a cargo door opened. The jungle was like the one he had been raised in. After nearly four months in space, A'luet felt inner excitement at seeing a real forest. Robotically, he followed the adults out into thigh length grass.

…

Happily his eyes missed nothing, from the large Ho'rks flying high above him in the sky to small colorful insects skittering up the trees they passed. Too busy watching the life around them, A'luet failed to notice when the adults stopped walking. Issa turned to glare at him before redirecting her attention at J'mper who had stopped them.

Ahead was a herd of six legged herbivores, quietly grazing. Issa started to camouflage but J'mper stopped her. "Mo, they have young."

"So?" She hissed; she cocked her head as he flicked his eyes A'luet's way meaningfully. "Fine," She grumbled.

They continued on, deeper into the jungle until finally they came to a river. While J'mper and a grudging Issa set up temporary camp An'nu took A'luet a little ways down river. Handing him his mother's combi-stick, An'nu motioned for A'luet to climb on a large rock while he treaded into the water. Pulling his own spear loose from his harness, An'nu spoke of how important it was to keep one well fed as no yautja was useful when starved.

As An'nu talked, A'luet saw a large Dor'Sal fish gliding towards him in the water. An'nu didn't seem to be paying attention as he lazily extended the spear, instructing A'luet how to do so with less noise. Then suddenly the spear's sharp end jabbed right in front of A'luet's face, making him jump back. An'nu grinned, amused.

"And never let your teacher distract you."

A'luet watched as An'nu brought the spear up with the Dor'Sal limp on the end of it.

"I try not to let my prey suffer," An'nu murmured as he studied the fish. "Unless it's a Kainde Amedha."

A'luet nodded.

"Okay, your turn." An'nu waded out of the water as A'luet gingerly slipped into it. The water in his jungle had been freezing cold most days. Dachande had enjoyed many times flipping him into the bone chilling waters and watching as he nearly drowned on several occasions when the icy current froze up his limbs. He had no desire to have the same thing happen to him here, especially in front of An'nu. To his surprise the water was comfortably warm.

Extending the spear like An'nu had shown him, noiselessly, A'luet waited for something to come his way. For a long time nothing did, as A'luet was sure the Dor'Sal's pals had seen his demise on the end of An'nu's spear. Then finally a dark shape did come. Waiting quietly for the right moment, A'luet jerked the spear down and got a shock when he lost his balance on the slippery river rocks he was standing on and disappeared under the water. A thousand thoughts crossed the young yautja's mind, the first and foremost being he didn't want to disappoint An'nu. _I have to get this fish. _

Hanging onto the spear, he struggled to raise it above the water above him, but found whatever he had caught weighed a ton. Taking his chances, he yanked the spear out and grappled the fish, pushing up from the ground to rise above the water.

A strong hand grabbed his arm and half hauled him out of the river and onto a rock.

"Cetanu," An'nu managed between his laughing. "I have never seen a fisherman quite like yourself."

"Oh," was all A'luet could reply with. He looked down and saw he didn't have a fish but rather some kind of round, black object.

"It's a wheel," An'nu finally managed to calm himself. "From the human planet, their trash floats all over the universe." The yautja stood, offering his hand to his son. "We'll take it back to the Clan ship, Kulha has always had a fascination for human toys."

An'nu took A'luet's fallen spear and slid back into the water.

"For a first time, you did well…too bad it wasn't a fish."

_Yeah, too bad._

…..

After a meal of raw fish wrapped in bread like substance that J'mper had brought with them, Issa took A'luet out alone like An'nu had said she would.

For a while they simply walked in silence, A'luet admiring the soundless gait she kept. Eventually she looked down at him, "I saw your fishing."

A'luet felt his face burn in embarrassment. It had been bad enough pulling that stunt in front of his father whom he was just starting to get comfortable with. To his surprise, Issa gave a genuinely kind smile.

"An'nu will swear up and down that I'm a cruel heartless person, but I suppose on some level I do care. Zeke was right about you, you make people care about you…except for dicks like Bak." She slowed her walk so that they were side by side. "If it makes you feel better An'nu stabbed Zeke in the foot the first time he went fishing."

"He did?" A'luet felt bad, but it did make him feel better.

Issa laughed, her tone light and carefree. "Yes. He was the talk for weeks." As they rounded a small rocky incline A'luet realized she was quite beautiful, her dreads were actually a dark red in the sunlight.

The sun was starting to meander across the sky, the lighting darkening as the afternoon faded to late day. Issa's relaxed attitude suddenly changed when they entered a clearing overlooking a small valley below them.

"What's-?" A'luet began to ask but a branch snapping not far away made the words die in his throat.

Issa acted fast, her right hand pressed against his mouth as she made him duck down with her. Coming up the hill towards them were three rapidly appearing yautja, their cloaking devices switching off. A'luet heard her take in a hissing breath. For the first time since he had known her, he smelled fear on her.

"Say nothing," her voice was barely audible, even by his ear. She let go of his mouth and punched in a code into her gauntlet, her camouflage spreading across her and him.

The leader was easily three times larger than J'mper and looked-no smelled of evil. A'luet shrank into Issa as the three male yautja stomped towards them, taking no care in how they walked. When they were less than ten feet away, the leader stopped and sniffed the air, a low growl emitting from his throat; his masked face turning their way.

After what seemed like forever, the trio finally moved on. Issa waited a while before standing, her hand remaining on her nephew's shoulder, her touch the only thing that kept him camouflaged with her.

"Let's go, we need to leave." Her voice was urgent.

"Who were they? What's wrong? Issa?"

She stopped walking; making him stop with her, she turned him and grasped him tightly by both shoulders. "Bad bloods A'luet. They are very dangerous."

"Yes, that's what they say," a deep guttural voice agreed.

She spun around, the trio standing behind her.

"Release your camouflage little lady, we know you're there."

"Yeah?" Issa's grip on A'luet's shoulder tightened. "Ell-osde Pauk." She hauled A'luet up over her shoulder and took off with the three males growling behind her and chasing after her.

She purposely didn't take the trail back the way she and A'luet had come. Ahead she saw a deep ravine which she managed to clear simply because she was as big as the leader and was running faster. She managed to lose them as these particular yautja seemed to have a code to stick together. _A weakness,_ she thought as she continued to sprint through the trees. It didn't matter though they would find a different route around the ravine and pick up her scent. She needed to get A'luet back to An'nu before something really bad happened.

…..

J'mper watched his friend pace in front of him, listening to An'nu rant about how Issa should have been back with A'luet by now and if the kid was hurt in any way, then he'd kill Issa.

'They'll be here,' J'mper said as his keen hearing picked up on something running. An'nu heard it too and quickly picked up his shuriken as J'mper pulled his spear off his back and extended it. He let the enemy get the jump on him once, he'd be damned if it happened again.

Issa appeared with A'luet beside her, making An'nu relax. "Where the hell have you been Issa?" He demanded.

"We need to go now," she said, ignoring his question.

"What wrong?" J'mper's eyes were on A'luet.

"Bad bloods, three of them. They knew I was out there."

"Shit," An'nu hissed. "Did they see A'luet?"

"No, they never saw us, the leader just guessed."

"Pauk," An'nu snapped. "A'luet get on the ship, don't leave it, okay?"

A'luet nodded and did as he was told.

It appeared that An'nu and J'mper had already begun the packing away of items not that they had brought much to begin with. Within less than a few minutes the adults were boarding the ship when there was a deafening roar in the trees.

A'luet felt his head grow fuzzy as he was brought back to the day his Clan had been killed.

_ A throaty roar erupted from somewhere in the trees, yet not far from the camp."Chestburster? How in the name of Cetanu did Viv'n get a chestburster!" Heth'rah snarled. _

_ "It doesn't matter now," Illeya snapped. "Call in the children!"_

_ A female grabbed a horn and blew hard, signaling danger to the children still in the woods. A'luet could just see Dachande and the others running out of the treeline when a hybrid caught the unsuspecting male by the head, ripping it clean off his body. _

_ Behind A'luet, Heth'rah let out a grieved cry of rage; grabbing her combi-stick she raced towards the hybrid. _

_ "That's not the one," Aluet cried out, "that's not the one Ma'da."_

_ Illeya grabbed her own weapon and her son, turning to run through the camp. A body hit them both, thrown to the ground, Illeya glanced down and saw Rhon'dah, dead from a puncture to the forehead. Stalking towards her and her son was a growing hybrid, clawing and raking the molting flesh off of it, to reveal its mature skin. _

_ Illeya knew what had to be done. She turned while extending her stick and grabbed her son. "Run A'luet, run and don't look back." _

_ "Mo Ma'da, no." A'luet held onto his mother's hand. _

_ She shook him off with a growl. "Go A'luet, do not disobey me! GO." She shoved him. _

"A'luet, A'luet…. Wake up kid."

A'luet felt himself slowly come to, his father's face becoming clearer and clearer. "The

Z'skvy-de, where is it?"

"There wasn't a Z'skyy-de," An'nu murmured, concern evident. "Come on stand up." He pulled A'luet to his feet and sat him on a cot.

Looking around, dazed, A'luet realized they were in space, the Clan ship rapidly coming into view. He must have been out for a really long time. Slowly, he let himself fall sideways onto the cot and curled into a ball.

…

"He'll be fine. It sounds like he had a flashback." Na'giest watched the D'jilk through the one-way glass. "Bad bloods you said?" His filmy eyes landed on Issa.

"Yes."

"You're sure?" He took half a step towards her.

"Are you doubting me?"

"Enough," J'mper cut in. "A'luet need bed."

Na'giest sighed, "yes, he's had a lot of excitement. He needs to rest."

"He's not a doll," An'nu grumbled. "He can handle the medical table for a few more minutes while we sort this out. They were bad bloods Na'giest; we saw them. Tell the Elders to mark off the H'Glade belt. We can't risk going back there."

Na'giest nodded. "I agree. I will inform Zeke for you. Meanwhile, I'll release A'luet to you with the hopes that you will keep him quiet for a few days."

"We will," J'mper answered for An'nu who thumped him in the back. 'Go get him.' He signed.

Feeling tiredness settling in, An'nu left the room for A'luet, a strange feeling coming over him. He realized as he entered the room his son was in, that it was protectiveness. He felt protective of A'luet.


	9. Chapter 9

A few days had passed; J'mper entered the dorm to see the room quite dark. _That's odd._ He fumbled for the switch and found it after running his hand irritatingly along the wall's surface. Sighing he pulled his harness off, laying it on his bed before heading to the shower room. Elders were lucky that way. They didn't have to deal with the communal showers that the rest of the ship had to use. Entering the room, he was startled to see Issa sitting in the shower, fully clothed with the overhead facet running. She wasn't looking at him, didn't even register him it appeared. Carefully he took a step towards her.

"Ith-tha?"

She didn't answer.

Concerned but wary, he pushed the sliding door open all the way. Females were notorious for suddenly lashing out in anger. Many males wound up severely injured because they were too dense to read the women's dark moods.

Then she spoke, "I knew the leader of those yautja…the ones on the reserve. I speak of cowards and the shame they bring… and yet I am the coward." She glanced at him hesitatingly. "I was afraid for me, afraid for me and A'luet."

J'mper clicked and then slowly pulled his boots off. Issa didn't seem to notice, which was a good sign that she probably wouldn't attack him out of the blue. Keeping his movements non-threatening, he entered the shower and sat down next to her. Surprising him, she leaned into his shoulder. Her dreads were soft, abnormal in their world, spilling over his shoulder.

"I did not leave my Clan willingly." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Ma'da condemned me for it, calling me a butch female…a female who wanted to be a male lou-dte Kalei. But I couldn't stay, not after what happened."

J'mper stayed quiet, what ever she was talking about, he wasn't going to drag it out of her. She would eventually get to it.

"It was not consensual…I did not approve of his handling on matters. He was an ass and arrogant. Usually by the time yautja are several seasons old they leave and never come back. But he did, as the son of our leader, no one questioned-" she trailed off.

She didn't have to continue, J'mper was pretty sure he knew where this confession was going; but she did anyway, her voice flat.

"He caught me one night down by the river, far enough away from the camp that no one would hear. He was large for a male…larger than me. And-" She paused again. "I left afterwards, I couldn't function in our Clan. I had to leave to get away. So I left. And then…gave birth six months later to a stillborn girl."

J'mper didn't know what to say. First of all, he was surprised she was even telling him at all. Rape was a tricky subject in their world with no real definition. However the same rules applied, if a female said no, it meant no. He didn't understand why she didn't just kill the bastard, or maim him. She had the power to do it. _He was the leader's son. Leaders are alpha and you can't piss off a leader. _The male yautja probably would have made up a story about Issa to the leader and then Issa could have been outcast. –Outcast more than she already had made herself.

He exhaled slowly. "I am sorry."

She didn't reply, but shuddered a little. J'mper had been around many females in his lifetime, and never had he had to deal with one who projected in every way, weakness. Females were usually the last to show weakness and even still died before ever displaying it. It was foreign to him, not even males were apt to show the dangerous action. It was what got you killed. Yet Issa was clearly in a vulnerable state, her guard completely down, no hint of the haughtiness or sarcasm he was used to seeing. Instead he saw a saddened, broken down woman.

Carefully, he reached out to her hand and laid his on hers. Her eyes shifted to the gesture before looking at him, still saying nothing. Then she laid her head back down on his shoulder, the two of them staying like that for a long time.

….

**Later**

Odd noises were keeping A'luet awake. Timidly, he peeked out over the blanket and observed the dark room. Scraping, like claws raked the wall behind his head causing him to jump out of bed and land on the floor in the middle of the room.

With little thought he ran to An'nu's side. "Osh'da…Osh'da, wake up."

An'nu moaned quietly, shifting. "No, I don't want the shot Na'giest…"

A'luet almost forgot his fear with his father's unexpected sleepy comment. "Osh'da-An'nu!"

An'nu jerked awake at the sound of his name being snapped in his ear. Turning over he saw his son, standing by his side. "A'luet? What's wrong?"

"There were noises," now that he was saying the words, he felt silly.

Blearily, An'nu focused beyond A'luet's thin shoulders, listening. He didn't hear anything. He sighed and sat up. "You were probably dreaming and didn't realize it."

"Probably," he echoed.

An'nu studied him for a moment. "You don't kick in your sleep do you?"

A'luet shrugged, his mother had never complained of him doing so but that didn't mean anything since Illeya never complained about anything.

An'nu made a face, "well your privilege will be revoked if you kick me. Come on." He gestured to the open spot closest to the wall next to him.

"Are you sure?"

"You have to three," An'nu said. "One."

A'luet quickly scaled the bed and settled. Beside him, An'nu laid down, his shoulders popping. Feeling more secure, A'luet quickly fell back to sleep.

…

Several weeks passed; A'luet found himself growing, his body beginning to mature. He was still small, but he was losing the thin shoulders and willowy frame, as he accompanied J'mper and An'nu to the training room on almost a daily basis. An'nu refused to teach him how to fight for now, but allowed A'luet at least some freedom with the less dangerous equipment.

As A'luet finally tired and sat to watch his father and J'mper spar, he sighed to himself and hoped he would one day be as good of a warrior as them.

…

**Six Years later**

**Age: 16**

**Appearance: Let's just say something like a willowy Scar from AVP**

A'luet's movements were soundless as he carefully rotated in his hiding spot in a large tree. Below him, the other un-blooded yautja had gathered nearby, already found by the seeker. And now he, A'luet, was the only one left.

He resisted a trill of amusement; this could go on for hours, as the game was not allowed to end until everyone was found. Already he could see the annoyance in his fellow kin as they knew that it was next to zero that the seeker, a big blockheaded male, would be able to find A'luet.

Letting his breath out quietly, he let his muscles relax like Issa had showed him and waited. Eventually Golor'eK gave up, growling to himself and earning a disproving expression from the instructor, Mordri. A'luet let himself drop out of the tree soundlessly and joined his brothers as they clustered in front of the teacher.

"Keen awareness is a must, if you don't learn to hone this skill then you will not survive in the hunt." Mordri glanced severely at his students before waving a hand at them, "you may go."

A'luet was glad that Mordri had decided to let them go early. Usually he kept them until dark or until someone passed out; which had happened a few times due to the extreme exertion. One by one, his peers dropped off, each entering their dwellings until it was only he who remained. Silently, he liked it best when he was alone. Cetanu, he could think!

His amber eyes travelled up to the sky of Yautja Prime, the home planet of his kind. The two suns were beginning to set, illuminating the sky with the different moons that circled the planet, some enormous due to their close proximity and others small. He had only been on the planet for two years and yet; he was finding that he liked it better than the planet he had been born on. He didn't know what made him prefer this planet but he planned on spending his remaining years finding out.

His home was coming into view, a decent elongated structure that An'nu's father had willed to him before he died on a perilous hunt. Some day, it would possibly be A'luet's, but for now it was An'nu and J'mper's, who roomed with them. He could already see Issa sitting outside the door, carving apart a Cicil'Is, a kind of animal that dominated Yautja Prime.

She blocked his entrance into the house by spreading her leg across the doorway. "Take a seat."

Without a word, he did as she asked and was handed a large knife and a second Cicil'Is.

"How was class?" she asked after several minutes of quiet work.

"I was the last to be found again."

"Good." She sent him a quick approving smile. "They could never find me or An'nu either, said we were L'istor'I, ghosts."

A'luet felt pride at being considered as good as Issa or An'nu, apparently his stealth was hereditary. "I'm scheduled for the Kainde Amedha Chiva."

Issa's hand jerked, slicing into the wood boards of the porch. Clearing her throat, she shook her head a little. "Oh?"

A'luet hadn't missed her reaction, pretending he didn't notice he continued. "Yes, the end of this year, during the third rotation of the suns."

"Where have they chosen?" She kept her eyes on the skinned animal beneath her hand.

"I chose the one called Kehrite de Kantra."

Issa abandoned her quarry, her eyes only on her nephew's. "Kehrite de Kantra? A'luet…."

He sat, waiting, determined.

"That is the reserve-"

"-That J'mper and Osh'da chose, I know."

"And yet you see J'mper every day, you see the scars he's been left with."

"It wasn't the reserve that scarred J'mper, it was the facehugger," A'luet argued.

Issa clicked annoyed, "it doesn't matter A'luet, that reserve is not called the arena of prayers for nothing. It is called such because you go in with nothing but prayers. I know many who thought they could handle it and ended up either like J'mper or dead."

"It's too late Issa, I've been slotted for it."

She growled, stabbing off a leg of her Cicil'Is. "It was no accident that you were reunited with my brother A'luet. Yes, the hunt is important and yes honor is essential, but it is not fair how we so easily dismiss the dead."

"My mother was blooded, my father is now considered a warrior, I'm going to be blooded," A'luet stated simply.

"Yes, she was and he has been promoted but don't change the subject. After all you've been through it would be a shame and waste to die in Kehrite de Kantra simply because you felt you needed to prove something."

_Why did she even care?_ He thought. Usually Issa was pushing him to take his lessons to a higher level than the other "wimpier" (she called them) students.

"I mean it A'luet, change reserves before I do it for you.And for the love of Cetanu, don't tell your father about this."

"Don't tell me what?" An'nu appeared with J'mper.

Issa growled something unintelligibly, sawing the Cicil'Is in half.

A'luet blew out pent up air. "I chose-" He kept one eye on Issa who grinded her teeth. "Kehrite de Kantra for my Kainde Amedha Chiva."

"And he's changing it," Issa interrupted.

"No I'm not," A'luet argued at the same time An'nu asked, 'why?'

"Why?" Issa hissed. She jerked a hand towards J'mper who had remained silent on the issue. "Need I say more An'nu?"

An'nu sighed. "Iss, we all get scarred during our Chivas, you got scarred, I got scarred and J'mper too."

Issa jumped to her feet in a flash. "You only took Kehrite de Kantra because Strangya took it."

_Strangya?_ A'luet didn't recognize the name.

"And now the cycle is repeating," she snarled. "-In your own son."

A'luet had been about to ask who Strangya was but Issa stormed by him into the house, slamming a door somewhere inside. He glanced at his silent father who was still staring after his irate aunt.

"What was that? Whose Strangya?"

An'nu's eyes twitched. "Our brother…he died a long time ago." He sighed. "Change the location A'luet."

"What?" A'luet stood, quietly proud that he was no longer towered over by his father or J'mper, that he stood as tall as them. "Osh'da-"

"It's not a discussion," An'nu snapped. "Change it." He strode into the house, leaving him and J'mper outside.

"I talk to them," J'mper murmured. 'Do not worry about Issa. She will come around.' He left A'luet, not doubt to go calm his mate down.

A'luet stayed where he was, breathing in the cooling air. He didn't care what they wanted. He wasn't a pup anymore. He was going to pursue Kehrite de Kantra and show them that he could go through with it and win.


	10. Chapter 10

Issa stayed in her room for the rest of the night, creating a tensed atmosphere among the males in the house, particularly An'nu. A'luet glanced sideways at him through dinner, noting his father's unusual grave expression. J'mper emerged from his room he shared with Issa in the back of the house.

"Anything?" An'nu asked.

J'mper shrugged and shook his head with a snort. 'She'll come around.'

"You've always pushed me to take my training to a higher level than my peers," A'luet took this time to continue his argument; not that he was going to take what the adults said to heart. He was going to complete the Kehrite de Kantra whether they liked it or not.

An'nu's head twitched, yet he didn't fully look at A'luet.

"I'm not chang-"

"A'luet!" An'nu snapped.

He fell silent, stewing. Hoping maybe J'mper would come to his defense, he spared a look at him; but the coal colored yautja adverted his eyes.

"Kehrite de Kantra is difficult, just about the most difficult choice you could have possibly chosen as young as you are. Upon further reflection, I don't understand why you would have thought you could go in and come out impeccable-" An'nu continued.

"You did…"

An'nu was staring at him now, unblinking. "I was three older than you and had been on many hunts before my Chiva. Back then; they made you break up your Chiva before taking the final test. These days they train you for an asinine amount of time and then drop you off at your Chiva and make bets on how many pieces you'll return in."

They both fell silent, A'luet because he had no comment to his father's argument and An'nu because he was feeling the raw pain of having lost Illeya. _She would have known what to say to him to get him to understand the risks._

"What happens if I disobey your request?"

An'nu was quiet for a moment. "I'm not going to force you to do as I ask." He paused and then added tiredly, "if you are really going through with this, then you need to be trained…really trained; none of this fluff shit."

J'mper straightened. "An'nu-"

"It's the only way J'mper," An'nu snapped. Almost embarrassed, he choked out, "I can't lose him too."

"You won't lose me, Osh'da," A'luet tentatively reached out to his father, laying his hand over his. "Dtai'Kai-dte sa-de nau'gkon dtain'aun bpi-de- The fight begun would not end until the end…"

An'nu clicked and then snorted. "Who gave you that bullshit?"

A'luet grinned. "Some yautja who thought I was a pain-in-the-ass burden once."

An'nu reached out and laid his hand against his son's face. "He was the ass," he murmured.

"No, he is better than that," A'luet whispered.

…..

It was blazing hot the next day; enough for A'luet to ignore the usual netting that crisscrossed his limbs and torso under his light armor. Leaving his room he saw Issa tapping her foot by the front door, "good, you are up. Eat quickly."

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way." She snapped her fingers at him. "Eat."

He did as she asked, wolfing down some left over Cicil'Is before following her out the door.

"Your father and J'mper went to the arena to spar," she answered his unasked question. "They should be meeting us shortly." She led him away from the obscurity of their house and to the busier parts of their village. Yautja, male and female alike moved out of their way, Issa was famous among the inhabitants for being some what of a bitch, though a likable bitch. Just don't piss her off and you were generally fine. She turned a corner, leading him down a quickly narrowing alleyway to a less populated street. In front of them was a large house made of a sort of clay. As they drew nearer, A'luet saw that the house actually expanded like it was breathing.

Issa noticed his observations, "it is F'luk, it is supposed to do that, keeps the heat out by expelling it."

"They must be prosperous…." A'luet murmured. He saw Issa give him a look before pulling him up the shadowed porch like exterior and to the door. In the impossible gloom, set absurdly contrasted against the bright sunny day, An'nu and J'mper were waiting. J'mper seemed on edge.

Either ignoring or oblivious to his friend's plight, An'nu put a hand on his son's back and guided him into the house.

"Shouldn't we have knocked or something?"

"No, he knows we're coming and he hates formalities," An'nu answered.

"Who?"

A'luet trailed off as they entered a large room with sparse décor save for an ornate chair with an aged yautja in it. Despite his age, he seemed agile and strongly built.

"Father," J'mper acknowledged.

Stunned, A'luet could only stare at him and then at the yautja in front of them.

"J'mper," the yautja greeted somewhat stiffly. "It's been a while." He raised a hand and snapped his fingers. In response, a strangely petite female came forward and picked up two small objects off a tray by his side. A'luet realized with a jolt they were fake eyes. The yautja in front of them was missing eyes. He made a stunned noise before clamping his mouth shut.

There was awkward silence as the yautja was fitted with his prosthetic eyes, then he stood up and came forward, his attention settled severely on A'luet. The young woman backed out of the room, leaving them.

"This is your boy?" He barked at An'nu.

"Yes."

"Turn," the yautja twirled a finger to emphasize his point.

A'luet glanced uneasily at his father who jerked his head. "Turn A'luet."

He did so, and was quickly stopped by the yautja who reached out and felt his hair. "His dreads are the right length…."

A'luet resisted the urge to make a face; he didn't know that anyone's dreads could be the wrong length.

The yautja pushed him again carefully as he observed him, occasionally studying his limbs. "Who was his mother?"

"Illeya, Roan'keh Illeya."

The yautja abandoned his study of A'luet. "Really? Illeya, she was one of my best students. Why is she not here?"

"She's dead," A'luet answered before An'nu could. Immediately he winced, it had just slipped out; he knew he wasn't supposed to talk to those of higher rank than him unless they addressed him first.

Instead of getting mad at his rudeness, the yautja sighed, "my condolences, to both of you, An'nu."

An'nu inclined his head, "thank you."

The yautja grasped A'luet by the shoulder and made him face him, his eyes becoming eerily visible to the young yautja. Pale blue, almost white, the fake eyes were set back in his head like all others of their kind. Scars lined, crisscrossed and zigzagged along his sockets and spider-webbed down the sides of his cheeks. Realizing he was staring, A'luet quickly tried to look somewhere else and was met with more scars, deeper and thicker across the yautja's chest and hips. Where ever he had been, he had been in deep at one point or several points in his life. Suddenly J'mper's missing jaw was looking like a superficial scratch compared to this male as A'luet's eyes followed the scars to places where at one point flesh had been missing entirely and had to be stretched to heal.

The yautja cleared his throat to get his attention. "I am Kainde."

A'luet must have made an expression because the yautja trilled in amusement. "My own father thought it would be ironic for a Kainde to slay Kainde Amedha…therefore he named me as such. Have you faced the pauk-de?"

"-the-?" A'luet didn't understand what he was being asked.

"Kainde Amedha, have you faced one before?"

"No. Only a Z'skvy-de…full-grown."

"An abomination?" Kainde growled. "Really? When?"

"When I was ten, I didn't do anything to it really…"

"What did you do?" Kainde interrupted.

His face burning in embarrassment at the memory of Kulak having to come to his rescue, A'luet answered, "tried to kill it with my mother's combi-stick."

Kainde grunted. "Brave of you. All the ten-year-olds I know would have wet their pants and laid down to die."

A'luet risked a look at his father next to him, a look of help. An'nu felt his son's eyes on him and he glanced at him, two of his fingers coming up to his eyes and then pointing towards Kainde's back. A warning to keep his attention on Kainde.

Kainde abruptly turned around and shooed the three adults away from A'luet, leaving him alone in the middle of the cavern like room. "How strong are you? You look skinny."

Indignant at being called skinny, A'luet tried hard to keep himself calm, though he knew the older yautja could smell his annoyance. "I don't know. Strong enough."

"Who is your teacher now?"

"Mordi."

Kainde snarled. "Mordi doesn't know a fart from the passing wind."

An'nu glanced at J'mper next to him, his friend's top mandibles drawing inward against his remaining teeth.

"This isn't going to be a picnic, you are going to be my hult'ah, observer. There will be no slacking. I am not going to make you ready for your Chiva, I'm going to make you ready for life, I will be your teacher. There will be no whining, if you walk out once you are done, you will not be invited back here, I do not associate with quitters."

"I understand," A'luet said, hoping to get away from the commandeering yautja so he could recover from the hounding of questions and physical exam.

Kainde cracked his neck. "He's skinny An'nu, it could either make him or damn him. Illeya was built like him and she was a fine hunter; so if he takes after her it'll be a blessing. In the meantime I want you to run each morning and I will see you here tomorrow."

"How long do I run?" A'luet asked.

Kainde paused only for a moment. "Until you feel you will drop. J'mper I would like to see you in the back room."

….

"How did you survive that?" A'luet asked once they were far enough away from the house. J'mper snorted in amusement at the question.

'Tuned him out most times,' he signed.

"He's going to kill me," A'luet continued. "Run until I pass out? How am I supposed to train half dead?"

"That's the point," An'nu joined them from a vendor's cart where he had been buying supplies to fix his combi-stick that had been damaged in a recent hunt. "The Kainde Amedha isn't going to give you a time out when you are tired from fighting it for four hours straight. You saw from the abomination, it doesn't stop. It's kill or be killed. Kainde is the best, you'll do well under his tutelage."

"If he doesn't kill me first," A'luet muttered darkly.

The three adults grinned.


	11. Chapter 11

The first week was hell, almost; A'luet cursed the blazing heat on Yautja Prime. It had been more temperate on his birth planet; but this, this was ridiculous. The third day A'luet had woken to staring up at Kainde's face. Apparently he had passed out, dehydrated beyond a doubt. His brain told him to get back up before Kainde threw a fit, but his limbs wouldn't obey. So he laid there, his vision swimming in and out of focus.

It was then Kainde turned the hose on him from the yautja's private spring located near the house. Freezing water felt good as it cooled off his burning arms, legs and torso.

"How fast are you running before you come here?" The old yautja asked once he shut the water off.

"I don't know," A'luet licked the water off one of his dreads. "Why?"

"You are pushing yourself too hard."

A'luet let out a growl as he slowly got to his feet, "well if I wasn't then you'd be telling me I'm slacking."

So fast he missed it, his legs were swept out from under him. He hit the ground hard on his back with Kainde's combi-stick's sharp spear point pricking his neck.

"I am your teacher hult'ah, you will do well by remembering that. You are not smart to me. I stated my comment out of simple concern for your well-being; it was not an opening for your smart ass comments."

"I'm sorry," A'luet was slightly afraid of the yautja's calm demeanor despite the hidden threat. "I wasn't trying to be smart…it's just-" He trailed off.

Kainde removed his spear from A'luet's throat. "It's just what?"

"I feel like I'm not measuring up to your expectations." A'luet stood. "Forget it, I'll deal with Kehrite de Kantra by myself. I have Mordri." He started to leave, Kainde's warning from their first meeting ringing in his head.

_ "-There will be no whining, if you walk out once, you are done. You will not be invited back here, I do not associate with quitters."_

_ That's exactly what you are_, A'luet thought bitterly, _a quitter, a fucking quitter. _But he had already said the words, and he couldn't turn back, not without Kainde thinking he was a flip-flopper, wishy-washy.

"Only you are making such assumptions," Kainde's voice called.

A'luet paused, his hand on Kainde's gate. Kainde's mandibles stretched as he shortened his spear and walked over to him; his artificial eyes twitching in their sockets.

"I am sorry that you feel so A'luet, frankly I thought you were smarter than that." Kainde sighed. "Do you know how many students I've had over the last hundred years?"

Mutely, A'luet shook his head.

"Including your mother and my own son, J'mper, sixty. Do you know how many actually made me proud?"

Again, A'luet shook his head.

Kainde held up fingers, two. "Can you guess who?"

A'luet was pretty sure he knew which two Kainde was hinting at. "Does J'mper know?"

Something passed in Kainde's face. "No, he doesn't. It's my fault I haven't told him." The yautja paced away, "I was so devastated when I walked into the medic room and they were removing what was left of his jaw…it was Na'giest who headed the surgery. I lost my sight a year later…on a bone-headed expedition brought on by stupidity and rage." Kainde turned back to him. "The females will tell you that only they know the balance between teaching and love A'luet. But it is untrue, we males are just as passionate if not more."

Kainde steadied his eyes on A'luet, "If anyone feels like they haven't measured up to expectations, it is I. Sixty students A'luet, and only one of them is still alive however severely disfigured. You are number sixty-one, I'd like to ensure that one makes it through their life relatively intact and you are it, A'luet." Kainde scratched his head almost sheepish, "besides, saying you are better off with Mordri than me is an insult."

"I'm not…" A'luet muttered. "I've learned more with you than him."

"Good," Kainde gave him a waned smile. "Go home and rest, you look half dead."

….

The room was still dark when A'luet woke up, looking around blearily he swallowed and quickly found his mouth and throat was covered in slime. Sitting up slowly, his hand fell into something gooey. Throw up.

_What-?_

He wiped his mouth, realizing dazed that it was his puke. _C'jit, Pauk…_

Today was the day Kainde had picked for A'luet to go to one of the many sparring arenas to practice his fighting techniques against other yautja his age, whom were also training for their Chivas. He couldn't possibly be sick. Yet, already he could feel his stomach contracting and the nausea reaching an almost overwhelming peak. Stumbling out of bed, he doubled over retching. As he finished spilling what little contents were left in his stomach, his door was knocked on.

"You still in bed A'luet? Get up or you'll be late!" Issa gave the door a last pound before her soft footsteps padded down the hall.

_Late,_ A'luet thought as his eyes roamed over his mess. _Pauk._

…..

**POV of An'nu**

A'luet assured me he was okay yet I wasn't blind to his skin being a paler shade than it had been yesterday. He refused to let me check him for anything wrong and with Issa breathing down my neck about me being a worrier; I let it go. Almost.

"Does he look sick to you?" I asked J'mper once A'luet and Issa were ahead of us while we headed to the sparring arena.

My friend's keen eyes settled on my son's back. 'Yes. He has always been out of bed at the rise of the sun…never two hours after.'

Annoyance settled in my chest, not at my son but at the idea that he wouldn't tell me when he unwell. Yet I knew I was a hypocrite, I was the same way.

'You may want to tell my father A'luet is to sit out this time. He'll see it for sure before we say anything, he is good at making such judgments.'

I agreed silently, and let J'mper know so by nodding my head.

We entered the arena where many unblooded and young blooded yautja were practicing, some already fighting, really fighting I noticed as one kid took a hard punch to the gut and hit his back on the ground near J'mper. _Figures, my son has to spar against the likes of these idiots._

We found Kainde standing away from the other trainers with his arms folded, his artificial eyes dancing in their sockets. As we approached him, his attention landed on A'luet in an instant.

"Are you well?"

My son rolled his eyes. _"Yes._ Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"You look like shit for one," Kainde took a step closer to get himself face to face with him. The yautja took a long whiff, "you smell sick." Kainde was always known for being blunt. He never held back with any of his comments, especially if they were true.

"I'm not sick," A'luet snapped.

Kainde studied him for a moment, "I hope not because these block-heads will smell it and use it against you."

I watched A'luet for any signs that he was having misgivings about his task for the next three hours, there was none. His eyes were as determined as ever…kids.

We settled in the bleachers that rose up in a circle around the arena. Studying the other unblooded males that A'luet was up against, I felt a slight pang of unease before quickly shaking it off. _A'luet will be fine…he's agile, built like Illeya; it's what will help him stay out of these oafs ways. _

Issa guessed my thoughts. "Relax An'nu," she drawled, already bored. "He'll be fine."

I ignored my sister; she had an infuriating knack for becoming a bigger pain-in-my-ass than she usually was when I am like this, wound up.

Drawing in a breath, I sat back and waited.

….

It was close to an hour when I finally saw A'luet enter the arena below us. Issa shook her dreads out of her face as they had been hanging for some time over her eyes from her elbow lean on her knees.

"Cetanu," she muttered. "He's so damn small."

I shot her a dirty look.

"What?"

"He's fine the way he is," I snapped, earning amusement from J'mper.

'Now, now children,' he signed just as a guttural voice piped up behind us.

"Whose the runt? Didn't know the arena had a playground…"

"Just keep your cool Iss," my sister was murmuring to herself. "Your cycle is transitioning again, no need to kill the pauk-de behind you."

"You missed the day care D'jilk, its three streets over," the voice continued.

"That's it," Issa hissed. She promptly stood up, pushing me back down in my seat as I too stood to confront the arrogant asshole behind us. "Hey Lou-dte Kalei!"

I twisted around my sister's imposing physique to see who the loudmouth was; it turned out to be a nearly "bald" squat like yautja. His dreads were missing save for the stumps poking out of his head like some weird growth.

"Yeah, you," she continued. "Talk about my nephew again like that and I'll come up there and ram what little flesh braids you got left down your throat."

The yautja's mouth opened and shut several times, stupidly, like he couldn't think of a comeback.

"She'll do it," another yautja stage-whispered across his pal at the dumbstruck idiot.

J'mper had his face half-hidden in his hand, as if his hand alone would help spare him the embarrassment of the stares and glares his way; the warnings to have him shut his woman's head before she got out of hand. J'mper wasn't like that, neither of them were. It was rare for yautja to stay together for longer than a breeding. However Issa and J'mper's relationship was built on mutual respect for one another and that included each other having the right to tell one another and others where to go when it was deserved. Granted, Issa took more advantage of that luxury than J'mper did.

She sat down. "Pauk-de." It was going to be a long hour. I prayed to the gods that A'luet would have the strength to disarm his opponent early.

…..

As A'luet stood waiting, he saw his world pitch to the right, instinct told him to grab out at the wall to steady himself, but common sense made him tighten his legs to remain standing rigid. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Yautja didn't get sick often, but when they did A'luet remembered from his deceased Clan that it was serious.

_Just make it through your spar and then go home and sleep for the next century._

Looking out into the arena, A'luet felt a wave of nausea as the phosphoric smell of blood reached his senses. No unblooded yautja had died yet but some were definitely sporting injuries, brutal enough to be bleeding impressively around him.

The need to puke was rising again from his stomach; trying to suppress the urge, he clamped his mouth shut.

….

Feeling naked without his mother's combi-stick, A'luet followed a large brutish male his age out into the arena. Yautja his age weren't allowed to even have a combi-stick until they had proven themselves worthy; A'luet knew he had been lucky to keep Illeya's. He had his father to thank for that as An'nu had "taken" it as his own whenever they were out in public. At his rank, no one questioned him having two spears, and the fact that A'luet carried it.

A head trainer, obviously bored, relayed some rules and then stalked away. A'luet got a chilling feeling and looked at his opponent, whose red eyes were on him.

_C'jit_.

His keen hearing picked up on the air being sliced as the yautja launched a powerful punch to his head. Immediately A'luet dropped, thinking he had been lucky and was missed, however he remembered that every hunter had a backup plan, as he was smashed in the ribs. He felt his body lift and fling a good ten feet away like he was nothing. His vision swimming in and out of focus, he forced himself to stay awake. He would not let himself, his family and Kainde suffer the embarrassment of him passing out barely five minutes into his spar. Forcing himself to his feet, he blocked another assault to his head and spun, aiming a frontal kick to his opponent's abdomen, forcing some room between the two.

The yautja growled, annoyed now as A'luet was able to keep up and block every punch. When A'luet kicked his knee in, the yautja retaliated by slammed him into the ground by his dreads. In shock because of the force used and the fact that it was an illegal move in their rank; A'luet didn't move. He could hear the murmuring of watching yautja and saw as some trainers drew out of the shadows of the bleachers, obviously wondering if they should intervene, if he needed help.

His assailant stomped down on his chest, holding him down. "The arena is mine runt," he snarled.

Shaking off the surprise, A'luet twisted the yautja off him, making him fall. "Ellos-de pauk."

Pulling to his feet, everything became surreal to him and then faded to black.

…

**POV of J'mper**

The second I saw the kid A'luet was up against, I knew there would be issues. Shim-Shek was the offspring of the idiot Issa had threatened behind us. Looking nothing like the mortifying built of his father, Shim-Shek was like A'luet, built like his mother who was a force of nature really. Illeya like my father had said, was willowy yet strong. Shim-Shek was built like a tank. The odds were unfortunately not on A'luet's side, and from An'nu and Issa's expressions, they knew it too.

When the first kick connected and A'luet flew a good distance before slapping into the ground, An'nu winced not at the humiliation of his offspring already on the ground but at the pain of his son being brutalized so soon. Shim-Shek wasn't one to hold back.

I felt annoyance, Kainde should have objected when he saw the roster. Shim-Shek had been in the arena several times; he had experience. A'luet had none, this was his first official spar.

"Get up A'luet," Issa growled through gritted teeth. "Get up!" She yelled out.

I watched A'luet pull to his feet robotically, and felt slightly better when he began to give it back to Shim-Shek, his targets right on.

Dancing out of the way of one of Shim-Shek's punches, A'luet kicked the yautja's knee in from behind, forcing the kid to fall to the ground. Anger on the hot-head's face, I felt a pang of uneasiness as Shim-Shek reached out and slammed A'luet into the ground by his flesh braids.

"Damnit!" Issa snarled. "That's illegal to do!"

An'nu rose to his feet, his eyes on his prone son. Issa's fury faded as she realized that A'luet wasn't moving.

"Oh shit," she breathed, concerned.

Down in the arena, I saw my father and a few other trainers drift out of the shadows, careful to not rush out there incase there was a sudden rebound in fighting. I could tell though that A'luet wasn't going to be getting up enraged; if anything he would be disoriented. Shim-Shek stomped down on A'luet chest, holding him down, his mouth moving but I couldn't make out the words.

Then A'luet threw him off him, making Shim-Shek lose his balance. Standing slowly, A'luet looked like he was trying to figure out where he was and then he collapsed.

This time the trainers didn't wait, two of them corralled Shim-Shek as the yautja jumped to his feet, ready to pound A'luet. My father and a medic they always kept on hand for spars went to A'luet.

After a few moments of examining him, the medic motioned to someone I couldn't see. Then I saw a stretcher being brought out. "Damn it," I uttered clearly for once. For a stretcher to be brought out, it was bad.

…

Dim lights and incoherent voices clouded A'luet's senses as he slowly came to. He was lying on a metal table, surrounded by people he didn't recognize at first. Then he saw J'mper with his arms folded, listening to what looked like a medic with Kainde, Issa and An'nu.

Disoriented, A'luet sat up and nearly pitched off the side of the table, he would have if another medic hadn't grabbed his shoulder and forced him back down.

"Lay down," the older yautja hissed. "You're weak enough as it is."

His near miss with falling off the table snapped the attention of his family and Kainde to him.

"Ah, you're awake," the head medic greeted, warmer than the medic who had forced him to lie down. "How do you feel?"

"Thei-de… I feel like thei-de, death."

"You look it," the medic nodded. "You know you shouldn't spar when you are ill."

"I'm not-" A'luet felt his voice fail.

"Actually you are," the yautja laid a hand on his forehead. "I ran some tests while you were out and it appears you have R'ipt Syndrome."

"R'ipt Syndrome?" He croaked out barely he noticed, as his voice left him again.

"It passed from mother to child and takes years to mature. It's particularly rampant in jungle dwelling yautja and offspring."

"So what happens now?" An'nu asked. A'luet was relieved he had asked the question as it didn't seem that the medic was going to continue, but rather would have liked to end the speech on that note.

"It's a worm that infests the digestive tract, infecting other areas of the body eventually reaching the brain…we have a serum that is designed to kill it, however it is not pleasant."

"Can't be worse than this," Issa pointed out.

"Actually it can be," Kainde murmured. "A'luet will get sicker before he gets better. I'll talk with the head trainers about A'luet being excused from his Chiva this year; they should have a pr-"

"No."

Everyone looked at A'luet.

"No what?" Issa snapped.

"I'm still doing the Kainde Amedha Chiva."

Issa snorted, "here we go. Well An'nu, while you knock some sense into Mister Superman over there; I will be outside casting my worries aside." She pulled a small bottle of a neon blue substance out of her pouch.

"Ith-tha," J'mper interjected, his eyes on the bottle.

"Bye." She stated firmly before disappearing.

"A'luet you are not going to have the muscle mass nor the stamina to complete your Chiva after this is all done," An'nu explained, though he could tell his son didn't care.

"Yes I will, I'll continue my training."

"Where? From your bed?" Kainde grunted.

An'nu debated whether to laugh at his son's glowering expression as he shot Kainde a look.

"I'm going to do it."

An'nu was tired of arguing, "let's go home and talk about this later." He went to the door and swiped something from someone A'luet couldn't see, "and give me that." He turned with the bottle Issa had had as she swore at him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note: ****Hey everyone, I apologize for not updating in forever. I had classes over the summer and have about a week or two before school starts again. (Yaaayyy not) Anyway, I know this is short but hope you enjoy and I'll update soon, promise. **

**Three months later**

A'luet cursed the medics, the serum and most of all the parasites rampant in his system. Kainde was right; he was getting sicker. Having been so young in the jungle with his mother, he didn't know at the time, that it was honorary to commit suicide if a yautja was infected with an abomination. Now, he was wondering if the same honor could be extended to him killing himself off. Thei-de had to be better than this.

No energy, what little attention he had diverted by an annoying buzzing sound in his ears, and wave after wave of temperature fluctuations and nausea; he wanted to die. An'nu had long since removed all and any objects that held a reflection so A'luet wouldn't be tempted to study his emaciated form.

"A'luet?"

Unable to move, A'luet forced his eyes to rotate until he could make out his father's form in the shadowed room.

An'nu came forward and sat on the bed, a bowl of steaming food. The smell made A'luet want to hurl, but he clamped his mouth shut. "Issa and J'mper got into a tiff over who would make your food for you…J'mper won," he lightly laughed, before sobering.

"Good," A'luet rasped, trying to conserve his air so he wouldn't lose his voice and be rendered mute again until the next time his voice returned. "Issa's cooking would kill me."

An'nu grinned. "True… it would."

"I heard that," Issa came out of the shadows, flicking her ring-adorned dreadlocks. "Whatever, I never did like cooking, raw is better."

An'nu's face pinched together, and sent A'luet a yeah-right look. If he had had the strength he would have smiled back at him.

"Kainde just left," she added after a moment of silence. That perked A'luet up, making a squeak of surprise.

"-Spoke of your Chiva, it is too late A'luet, the boat has passed for this year," she murmured sympathetically.

A'luet growled in annoyance. "This is bullsh-" His voice left before he could finish his sentence.

"This is a blessing A'luet," An'nu stated firmly, "from the Gods I am sure. Maybe if you hadn't gotten sick and you went to your Chiva, you might have died."

'Still bullshit,' he signed, getting looks of surprise when the adults realized he signed perfectly. Only J'mper beamed, proud. 'J'mper taught me, plus watching him for so many years." A'luet glowered at his hands. 'This is going to ruin me.'

"What?" An'nu was stunned. "How-what are you talking about?"

Issa sighed, "A'luet, being a female I know what they look for in males. Being sick is not high on their priority list to ask about. This syndrome will not last forever. No female will ever know."

'But they know now,' he argued.

Issa cocked her head, "is this they a particular someone?"

A knock on the front door interrupted the question, the distraction welcoming to A'luet who had felt his glands heat up from the embarrassment. He didn't have long to recover as J'mper who had gone to answer the door returned with K'eira, the particular someone Issa had hinted at.

A'luet watched his aunt's mouth open and close several times, for once in her life rendered speechless.

K'eira placed her fist, her fingers oddly feminine for a yautja, over her chest and bowed her head respectfully. "T'Jierk An'nu, T'jierk Issa Nefery"

"Ashad'ou K'eira," An'nu was first to speak, his eyes landed on his son who managed to keep an indifferent expression on his face. "We'll leave you two alone." He jabbed a still flabbergasted Issa in the back to get her moving.

As the adults filed by K'eira, A'luet heard Issa finally hiss, "you watch, he'll be magically better while we are gone and then resume being sick when she leaves. Pups."

K'eira's face cracked in a smile at Issa's comment, while A'luet rolled his eyes. Then the door was shut.

"Did you bring it?" A'luet croaked, his voice temporarily returned.

She nodded. "Kainde advised against it, but since when do I listen to my uncle?" She pulled a small glass jar out of her satchel. "I heard from Medic Gwel-thei-de that your progress is not as swift as he would like…this is poison A'luet."

A'luet sighed. "At this rate-" his voice was failing. "I don't care," he managed to say.

She came forward, her hazel eyes locked on his. "But I do." She sat next to him, picking his hand up and resting it against her cheek. A'luet tried hard to keep his sex glands under control; his fingers were always sensitive to touch. Every yautja was different; apparently K'eira's sensitivity was her face because she began to hum.

"Issa. Issa will hear," he groaned, wishing his meddling family would be outside or something. All he and K'eira needed was ten minutes tops, but the odds of their rendezvous staying quiet was next to nothing; plus he was barely alive as it was or else he'd pounce on her now.

"It's relaxing you," she murmured. "I can feel it."

"It's relaxing me a little too much," he growled, his muscles shaking.

She stopped humming, her beautiful face light with amusement. "You males, can't even take a little bit of weakness." She leaned forward and ran her tongue over his ear.

"Neither can you females," he whispered.

She pulled back, a taunting smile on her lips. "Anyway, what I came here for…"

The sudden loss in touch nearly drove A'luet over the edge. _She's doing this on purpose the bitch,_ he thought desperately. _But she's so pauk de beautiful. _So he kept himself in check, driving his attention to her jar she had brought.

Tensely, K'eira opened the can and pulled a spoon out of her sack. Worried, she poured out enough liquid to fill the spoon. "Are you sure?" She asked. "I do not want to kill you. This is extremely volatile A'luet."

"Just hurry," he murmured.

Clearly disturbed, she raised the spoon to his mouth and nearly choked him, as she rammed it down to the back of his throat in a clear sign to get the uncomfortable situation over with.

He choked and coughed, partially from the spoon and mostly from the burning bitter liquid. He felt his every fiber; nerve and gland come alive under his skin. As a wave of relaxation came over him, all he could think of was that this is what it was like to get high.

"A'luet?"

_I'm okay_, it took him a second to realize he hadn't spoken the words. K'eira's face loomed over him, her expressions going from worry to confusion, then to shock and then pure alarm.

"A'luet? A'luet! Answer me!"

"What's wrong?" An'nu had arrived.

"He's not breathing, he's not breathing!" K'eira moved out of the way as An'nu bounded forward, his hands coming down on A'luet's face.

"A'luet? What happened?" He demanded.

"I-this…." She handed the bottle over. "It's Flaxin Foral."

"Flaxin Foral?" An'nu had missed Issa's entrance. "By damnit pup, you killed him…"

K'eira couldn't say anything in her defense; she knew she had kill him, the only male yautja she truly liked. A'luet was so different from the other males: caring, thoughtful, not a brute and bullish; and she had killed him.

J'mper was studying her, not angry. "An'nu, Laxin Oral can treat R'ipt…"

K'eira nodded her head, shell-shocked. "A'luet asked me…" She stopped when she saw one of A'leut's eyes flicker. "A'luet? He's waking-he's alive!"

Issa banged around in the bathroom, returning with a large glass of water. "Make him drink it."

"I'm not going to drown him Iss, he almost died," An'nu pushed the glass away.

Issa growled and pushed her pup brother out of the way, "I've had experience with this you moron, you have to flush the shit out of his system or it will poison him."

She jerked her half-conscious nephew up and forced him to drink. The first gulp he spewed out in a mix of water, saliva and puke. J'mper pulled his cousin away and held her tightly in comfort, the look in her eyes told him she was still blaming herself.

"Drink it A'luet," Issa commanded. "Drink it."

His hand came up feebly in an attempt to push her away? She didn't know, but she realized with surprise his strength was returning. A half hour ago he hadn't even been able to blink.

Once the water was gone, she wiped his mouth gently. "A'luet?" She cradled his head in her hands, waiting for movement. He finally moved, his eyes sliding open slowly.

"What happened?" He rasped, confused.

Issa half-looked at K'eira, who was visibly overjoyed that he was speaking, and alive. _She oughta be…_ Issa thought, _she would have wished death after I got done with her. _"Nothing, you fell asleep…I think you are getting better."

"Oh…" He didn't appear like he had taken in and understood anything that she said; and only proved her analysis when he fell asleep in the same breath.

She stood up, "he'll be fine…" She reached out to her brother, grasping his elbow in the only way she knew how to extend comfort. She returned her attention to K'eira, "for what its worth…good job."

K'eira tentatively smiled and whispered an embarrassed 'thank you.'

J'mper let go of her and jerked his head to the door, "let 'leep," he said simply. The yautja filed out with An'nu last to leave. He turned in the doorway, silently glad that the two kids had rather unorthodoxly taken matters into their own hands. A'luet seemed to have nine lives, An'nu hoped his son's luck held out. He shut the door.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I can't believe it's been two years since I've updated. I apologize to all who I'm sure were hanging on the end of the last chapter, waiting for more. I dealt with the loss of my best friend in Oct 2012, and I just lost my drive. Plus I've been sick off and on to the present. But enough about me. I intend to start updating more frequently than 2 years. Enjoy. **

A'luet winced as he watched P'sy (Wolf from AVPR) crack a xenomorph's skeletal neck in two to pull the head free from the body. He hoped his queasiness from simply from his recovery of the R'ipt syndrome and not from being a pussy. Kainde noticed his unease and trilled. "You're going to have to learn to do this on your own A'luet."

"Maybe we should send him on a one way ticket to the ooman planet for ballet lessons," P'sy grunted.

"What? No." Aleut snapped. "What the hell are ballet lessons?"

"Think of prancing around in a perpetual happy mind while in fluffy costumes."

The idea was repulsive to A'luet. Who would do that and embarrass themselves so? "I would never."

Kainde's scarred face twisted as he tried in vain to not smile. His charge was very entertaining when he glowered, and the young yautja was glaring at P'sy now. "Come A'luet, I want you to pull the skin off the Kainde Amedha." He touched P'sy's shoulder to get his attention. P'sy glanced at Kainde and then A'luet.

"Don't scratch it or I'll kill you. Took me a long time to kill this pauk de."

Ignoring his queasiness, A'luet stepped forward, taking the torch from P'sy. The two veteran yautja watched him carefully as he clicked it to life, the blue flame illuminating all their faces. Steadying his hands, he brought it down close to the Kainde Amedha's skull and slowly moved along the elongated head. In response to the intense heat, the skin began to curl up, its thin film making A'luet have second thoughts about mutilating the thing, even if it was his enemy and its cousin, the Predalien, had massacred his clan; but with P'sy and Kainde behind him, he kept going.

_What is wrong with you? Stop being such a pussy. _

He took hold of the film and gently pulled it away from the skull until it came loose and swayed in the air. _What do I do with it?_ He glanced at the two elders, both of whom only stared back at him.

He let the skin fall by the wayside. _Gross._ He never saw J'mper or his father do this when they worked on their slain Kainde Amedha. _That's because this is the old practice. They are testing you…Figures._

Putting the torch down, he pulled his dagger loose and jabbed quickly in the right spots, before pulling the exoskeleton away from the rest of the head. Slime made a _squelch_ as each juicy string snapped. He laid the cap down next to the body and put his hand by his leg, hiding the shaking from the two older Yautja who had come closer to inspect his work.

P'sy pushed the severed body away from the head, studying it. "Who taught you how to do this? The cap is intact." For the first time since A'luet had met P'sy, the Yautja sounded impressed. A'luet didn't answer right away. "All the inexperienced idiots I've seen do this fuck up. Too gung-ho if you ask me."

Kainde shrugged, his artificial eyes shining eerily in the gloom. "A'luet isn't an inexperienced idiot."

"That's apparent." P'sy growled. "You're a lucky bastard Kainde. You have a knack for getting the good ones."

Kainde rolled his eyes and patted his friend's shoulder. Then he turned, motioning for A'luet to follow.

...

"You showed hesitance."

A'luet opened his eyes, his gaze on his teacher sitting across from him, thin wisps of incense trailed the air between them. He didn't need clarification on Kainde's meaning.

"Why?" Kainde's eyes drilled into his student's, giving away no indication as to whether or not he was angry.

Finally A'luet looked away. "I still dream."

Kainde narrowed his eyes. "Dream." He clearly didn't understand the correlation between the earlier lesson with P'sy and now.

"-Of that day."

Then all at once Kainde understood. "The day your mother was killed."

A'luet didn't answer; he didn't have to.

Kainde released his breath slowly. "We all lose people in our lives A'luet. We have to move on because life does not allow us to dwell.

"Granted…" He paused. "Most of us have relatives, have-friends who go on hunts and never return, forcing us to believe they are dead. At least you were not left wondering, as morbid as that sounds."

"Yeah." A'luet agreed softly.

Not knowing what else to say or do, Kainde took a long breath and held it.

….

**One Year Later**

Issa looked bored, the expression clear on her face; she made J'mper and An'nu grin. There was a travelling vessel docked ahead of them. The ship that would bring A'luet to where his purpose would be fulfilled or he'd die trying.

Kainde had pushed him hard in the past year. Against all their better judgments A'luet was participating in the first Kainde Amedha Chiva of the year. Eventually it was An'nu who gave consent, grudgingly, understanding that it already irked A'luet that he had missed the Chiva his age group had participated in.

A horn blew somewhere near the edge of the dock, signaling the boarding of the ship was beginning.

Now that it was actually starting, A'luet felt his stomach flip. Next to him, An'nu glanced at him. Behind him, Kainde snorted loudly. "You wait much longer kid and you'll be waiting for the next ship in 3 months." Issa's bored expression cracked into a smile; then she thumped A'luet in the back, making him stumble.

"You'll be fine."

He gave a jerked nod and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. Realizing he had nothing to say, he turned and headed for the ship. Halfway there he heard his name called. An'nu came to a halt in front of him. Silently he stretched his hand out, his fingers hiding something.

"Issa and I want you to have this."

The Yautja dropped a wooden beaded necklace in his hand. "It was Strangya's."

He didn't know what to say at first. Then. "Thanks."

An'nu gave a nod. "Don't be late. They hate kids who are late."

A'luet shot him a look. "I'm not that much of a kid."

An'nu jerked his head towards the ship, amused.

A'luet backed away a few steps before catching sight of a familiar face. K'iera came to skidded stop by J'mper, her hazel eyes on his.

A last call echoed out and A'luet almost considered saying screw it.

An'nu glanced behind him to see who A'luet was looking at. "She'll be here," he said.

…

It wasn't until the ship had left the atmosphere of Yautja Prime and was gliding steadily to one of the outskirt moons in the solar system, that A'luet opened his hand again and studied the necklace. A single light brown oval bead, bigger than the others hung in the middle of the jewelry, and seemed to glow. _It's wooden. That isn't possible. _

Unblooded males trickled into the hold he was in, some pushed others half serious/half joking. Not wanting to give them any ammunition against him, he quickly fused the clasp around his neck so they'd think he had it all along.

He thought he was in the clear as far as not having to deal with the juveniles as he saw them, even if they were only a year or two younger than him. Then one male came towards him, his movements nonthreatening; still A'luet stayed on guard. He had learned years ago to anticipate anything even if a Yautja appeared friendly.

The male took a seat next to him, and pulled his mask off. A'luet saw him gazing at him from the corner of his eye but he ignored him.

"You didn't wear your mask to board the ship."

A'luet looked at him, silently confused at the Yautja stating the obvious. Then he looked down at his bag next to his foot where his mask poked out of a not completely zippered pocket. "Yeah."

"The Instructor was kind of surprised."

"Was he." It wasn't a question, more of a polite answer.

The Yautja bobbed his head. "I'm Paya."

"A'luet."

"Interesting name."

"You too." A'luet murmured back, pulling a flask from his bag.

Paya shrugged. "My mother was a terrible judge of gender."

A'luet choked on his drink. "You aren't kidding?"

Paya grinned. "Nope." Then he changed the subject. "So I'm glad I'm not the only one who is older than these blockheads."

A'luet had suspected Paya was about his age, he smelled different compared to the others, older.

"Me too."

"Broke my leg the day I was supposed to leave for the Chiva last year, smooth huh? Why did you miss it?"

His glands heating up from the embarrassment, he muttered, "got sick."

"Sucks."

A'luet didn't answer and wasn't expected to because the Instructor walked in.

"So." The large male sized everyone up. "You all think you are Sain'ja huh? That you can go out there and show those pauk-de whose boss, am I right?"

The idiots A'luet found himself annoyed that he had to be associated with, guffawed and trilled. _The Predalien surfaced in his mind. _

"I've dropped the unblooded off on many preserves for many years, and a lot of them come back barely able to stand on the pieces that their legs have been shredded to." The Instructor appeared to be amused at the sudden silence before him. He glanced at a chart.

"Roan'keh -T'Jierk A'luet," he barked.

A'luet felt his pulse freeze in his veins. _Why was the instructor calling him out of the fifty mass before him_?

Next to him, Paya was watching him in rapture, obviously just as interested as the rest to know why. A'luet thought about staying in his seat, if he didn't move the Instructor would think he didn't make it to the ship. _You idiot, Kainde had to sign off on your ass being on the ship._

Paya poked him in the arm; the act was enough to knock him out of his trepidation, a little. He rose slowly from his seat, his gaze stuck squarely on the Instructor until he realized he was staring him down, not purposely. He immediately retracted his gaze to the floor.

"I understand you've already had experience in this field."

_A female grabbed a horn and blew hard, signaling danger to the children still in the woods. Dachande and the others were running out of the treeline when a hybrid caught the unsuspecting male by the head, ripping it clean off his body. _

"Yes."

The instructor nodded. "Roan'keh -T'Jierk here was lucky, extremely lucky. You don't see too many of his types walking around, intact no less." The Instructor turned back to him, taking measured steps towards him before pausing a good distance away. "Because it wasn't just a pauk-de Kainde-Amedha he faced...it was a U'darahje."

_The Predalien surfaced in his mind._

There were several snorts of disbelief, followed by awed glances his way. The attention was getting to him. He just wanted to get the Chiva over with and go home, now he'd have to expect to be hounded with questions. Only one in the sea of unblooded males didn't look too impressed. _You and me both._

"You can sit."

A'luet gladly obliged. Next to him Paya kept his focus on the Instructor thankfully, though he could feel the Yautja's eyes on him every once in a while. Then they were told to go to their bunks and get some sleep.

Halfway down the hall A'luet realized he was being followed. He abruptly turned and came face to face with Paya. Despite the Yautja's friendly nature, the abrupt accidental face-off was enough to raise instinctually both males' fight or flight response. A'luet closed his eyes and then opened them, taking a step back. Paya did the same.

"Sorry, I should have told you I was behind you."

" 's fine." Aluet fisted the bunkroom's light on after it didn't comply immediately, then he glanced back at Paya who looked embarrassed.

"Um, everywhere else is full."

"That's cuz that's the piss-pants room." A juvenile Yautja passed by them, laughing and disappeared into one of the rooms.

It wasn't until the kid said something that A'luet realized the sickening smell wafting under his nostrils was in fact male piss. He rolled his eyes, annoyed. "C'jit."

Paya attempted to keep a straight face. "Well at least you don't get to suffer alone." He went into the room and dropped his bag by a bed.

A'luet watched him from the doorway; maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He had made himself promise not to get close to any of his peers the night before. He didn't want to have to deal with the grief if any one of them died; but looking at Paya, he realized that promise had shit the bed so to speak, when the two met.

He followed him in and shut the door.


	14. Chapter 14

A loud blast of noise above his head sent A'luet's heart slamming against his ribcage. He shot up on his cot, trying to figure out where he was and what the hell would have scared the daylights out of him. _I'm on the ship…Cetanu. Must be an alarm to wake up our asses. Well it certainly worked. I won't be able to sleep for a decade after that shit. _

Across the room, Paya was also rigid up right, his expression no doubt mirroring A'luet's. "I haven't been woken up like that since the time I was nine-seasons and taken out on a hunt with my mother." He grumbled.

A'luet didn't bother saying he had never been woken up like this. Which he now found odd, considering Kainde was so strict about certain practices and routines.

He stumbled out of bed, his senses sharpening rapidly and pulled the light armor he had brought on. Another alarm ripped through the speaker in their room.

Paya pulled his knife out, eyeing the speaker. "Do you think they'll notice if I-?"

A'luet knew. He glanced up at the offending electronic box. "Probably after we are off this ship during the Chiva or we go home."

"Hmmmm." Paya sighed dramatically. "So tempting."

A'luet stooped down and grabbed his bio-mask, clipping it into place, hiding a smile.

….

The cavern was loud with different conversations as A'luet and Paya entered. On a dais ahead of them, the Instructor and two other Elites that A'luet hadn't seen before were standing; talking amongst themselves. Then they turned to face the unblooded Yautja.

The Instructor hissed loudly, enough for A'luet to feel his eardrums pop and he was the furthest away from the teachers. In an instant the large room went silent.

"Your Chiva starts today. Once you leave this ship, you are not coming back until you've been Blooded and every last pauk-de is eliminated, understand?"

The juvenile Yautja nodded. The Instructor continued.

"We have divided you up in threes. This is the only interference we will have on your experiences. But-" The Elite hunter paused for effect. "Just because you are paired in threes does not mean three or two of you bringing down a pauk-de together makes you Blooded. We divide you so it is easier to keep track of you during and after the Chiva.

"Every Yautja kills a pauk-de on His own, does this in any way Not Make Sense To You?"

"No Honorable," the Yautja murmured.

"Good. You will do well by remembering that, hult'ah." The Instructor half turned, messing with something the Unblooded couldn't see. Then a holographic screen of the land below them lit up the space behind the Elites and a new Yautja stepped forward.

"We are about to touch down on an Island, Kehrite de Kantra. There is a lot of space for error. We've purposely let Nature do what she does best and that is to occasionally make very dangerous situations. We may have even helped Her along in the process-" He paused with an amused leer. "There is a pyramid here, you have to find it. Weapons are around, however you Do Not have the right to them until you've killed your first Xenomorph. And trust me: we will know if you disobey."

The Yautja who hadn't looked terribly impressed by A'luet the day before snorted, showing he was clearly a rebellious idiot that the rest of them would have to deal with.

"Line up!" The Instructor barked suddenly. "Straight line, facing me!"

There was a flurry of movements as the juveniles made haste to obey. A'luet and Paya took their time, not slow enough for disrespectfulness but both were not as intimated by the Instructors as the rest of them.

The Instructor came down off the dais and began to separate them. Once put in groups, the Yautja moved away. The Instructor pointed to a smaller leaner Yautja who refused to look up at the Elite. _Too submissive_. "You." The large male then passed over the six Yautja to A'luet's left and stopped in front of him, cocking his head. A'luet risked looking up, careful to not appear rude. The Instructor studied him and then glanced to A'luet's right, _to Paya_.

"And you two."

Keeping his emotions hidden, A'luet backed away and went to stand in the corner; the small Yautja and Paya followed him.

Soon all were placed in groups of threes. Not really paying attention, A'luet caught eyes with the insolent Yautja not too far away from him. The Yautja's gaze was aggressive. A'luet turned away immediately. He wasn't here to deal with petty shit from a juvenile.

"The only other things you are allowed to have are these…" The Instructors pulled open three chests and began to distribute wrist gauntlets. "If you don't know how to use it, I suggest you hunker down somewhere and figure it out."

A'luet silently thanked J'mper for showing him how to use one when he was twelve after he had asked. Over the years afterwards, both J'mper and later his father allowed A'luet to experiment with theirs, carefully of course.

"These are for you to keep, you will have these until they break and you will have them after they break, so you better learn how to fix them."

A yelp made several students jump. The Elite in front of the Yautja who had cried out rolled his eyes."

One of the Elites stopped in front of A'luet and his comrades. The old Yautja clicked the gauntlet open, waiting for A'luet to put his arm out. He did and didn't flinch when several microscopic needles buried themselves into his skin. He had seen the scars his family carried and had asked about them long ago. Eventually it was Issa who answered him, much to An'nu's annoyance. The Elite studied him and then with some sort of satisfaction only he knew, moved onto Paya and then the small Yautja. To A'luet's quiet pride, neither of them whined like some of the others had.

"We've decided that you may use the cloaking device, but do not use it constantly, it'll tell us you are D'jilk and are not worth of this Chiva. Everyone who has the gauntlet may grab a med-pak and leave."

"Finally." Paya breathed. "Only been standing here for a half hour." He was first to reach the table with med-paks. He turned and handed them each one. A'luet pulled his combi-stick loose from the harness on his back to stick the med-pak into his pack.

"That's really old but in good shape."

He paused, his masked face on the small kid in his group, who looked slightly awed.

"Your combi-stick."

He half turned away. "I inherited it." And didn't wait for an answer.

…..

The air was cool but the sun hot A'luet hated these climates. It meant the nights would most likely be excruciatingly cold. He had been on reserve planets before like this one with Kainde.

He quickly put distance between himself and the other groups, with Paya and the kid following.

"So," Paya broke the silence once the chatter from the others faded. "What do we call you?"

The kid glanced up at him and in the process, tripped over a log he had missed. Both A'luet and Paya exchanged looks. If the kid was going to be a klutz, A'luet might kill him himself to save him both the humiliation and possible danger to his life.

"Ph'in."

"Well Ph'in," Paya yanked him away from a neurotoxic bushy plant he almost walked into, "you're gonna want to pay more attention to your surroundings if you are going to survive your Chiva."

A'luet paused, listening to his surroundings. His two group mates fell silent and listened with him.

The silence was punctured by snarls far off in the distance, enraged cries and then choked off to screams of rage and then pain. Silence. _So soon?_

"Cetanu…"

A'luet didn't miss Ph'in shaking before he stiffened up.

_"But-" The Elite hunter paused for effect. "Just because you are paired in threes does not mean three or two of you bringing down a pauk-de together makes you Blooded. We divide you so it is easier to keep track of you after the Chiva._

"_Every Yautja kills a pauk-de on His own, does this in any way Not Make Sense To You?"_

"Come on." A'luet took off running with Paya and Ph'in close behind.

…..

Night fell rapidly as the trio moved about the island, making acquaintance with the terrain. Before the twin suns fell behind the distant mountains, A'luet had counted a total six different battles with whatever had come across the other Yautja. Every one of them ended badly for the Yautja.

They found a small rocky area by the enormous river that seems to wind all around the land to rest.

Paya slid into the water carefully and extended his spear, waiting for dinner to come his way. The scene reminded A'luet of the first time An'nu took him fishing. Come to think of it, Paya did look a little like An'nu. The same build: lean but muscular. A'luet shook the thought out of his head and turned his holographic map on from his gauntlet.

"The hive is going to be in the pyramid." He said to no one in particular.

"So we go there first," Paya responded, his eyes and hands tracking something in the water.

"And do what?" Ph'in asked. He had become a lot more attentive to his surroundings as the day passed. _Probably nerves._ "We'll tire ourselves out if we try to take on a hive first."

A'luet was barely listening. Then he said. "So we level it."

Paya cursed as he missed his target from flinching in surprise. "Level it." He turned, fishing forgotten. "Can we even do that?"

A'luet shrugged. "I've counted about twenty different pyramids." He indicated to the hologram. "The one open for us is underground. I doubt they'll miss it."

"How do we level it?" Ph'in demanded. "We don't have the weapons to do that."

A'luet shot them a smile. "Let's go kill some Kainde Amedha."

…..

"But the Instructors said-"

"The Instructors said we couldn't help each other," Paya interrupted Ph'in. "They didn't say anything about us using strength in numbers to aid ourselves and each other."

A'luet stopped walking studying his map. "The smallest clusters of eggs are right here. And they've all hatched." He tried not to think about which fellow Chiva students were killed gruesomely to let the Kainde Amedha be born. "There are five eggs. So pay attention." They're here."

He switched to camouflage, his two comrades doing the same, and got his lighter ready, keeping his attention on everything. Then he heard it, the clicking followed by a body springing from a tree above them. He threw the lighter down, having seen that someone before them had strewn a highly flammable weed in a misshapen circle around the hatched eggs. And in the same action, he attempted to extend his combi-stick. The Kainde Amedha got to him first, landing on his head and shoulders, knocking him back.

He heard his name called in panic before enraged snarls drowned out everything. Refusing to be a casualty, he rolled with the alien; doing a somersault and using what little leverage he had to throw the Kainde Amedha off. The thing landed with almost a comical 'oomff' in a pile of leaves, giving A'luet enough time to land on his feet from his stunt, he extended his spear, waiting.

The alien stood up, clearly aggravated that it hadn't killed him. He shut his camouflage off and backed away until he was in the reign of fire crackling, then he switched his helmet to ultraviolet, knowing he had the advantage. Kainde Amedha hated fire because it blinded them.

The alien stalked towards him, its movements telling A'luet that it knew he had the home field advantage.

"Come on!" He baited. "You pauk-de pussy."

That did it, the Kainde Amedha surged forward, its tail whipping out at his face. Just reacting he swung the combi-stick, slicing the tail off, spewing acidic blood everywhere. Some landed on his mask and flecked his left arm. Trying to ignore the biting pain, he moved, feigning a jump over the alien, he then slid under the alien, knowing he was going to get splattered with more blood. He wasn't disappointed. As he slid, he deactivated the spear and shoved it up into the belly of the Kainde Amedha where Kainde had taught him a weak spot was in their armored bodies. The alien let out a high-pitched scream and still attempted to kill him in its death throes. Finally after clawing once at the spear still lodged in it, it keeled over, a wash of phosphorus green goo shooting out of its mouth. Painfully he stood and saw there was one alien left and Paya was battling it. The Yautja was quick on his feet, graceful. Swinging once to the left to miss the deadly tail, he saw a mistake the alien made and went in for the kill. He sliced its head off, jumping back to avoid the blood.

Knowing he could catch his breath, A'luet went to the alien he killed and yanked his spear out none too nicely.

Paya was breathing heavily but otherwise looked unharmed, same with Ph'in. _Guess he's not so helpless after all. _"That's it?" Paya asked, his tone joking. He glanced at A'luet and saw the state his left arm was in.

"Cetanu A'luet." He came closer to inspect the burns. "That's going to leave a hell of a scar even with treatment."

A'luet scoffed. "As long as I got it while killing one of these pauk-de." He kicked his prize.

Paya cocked his head. "Come, let's find somewhere less lethal for the night and I'll deal with that." He half pointed to A'luet's arm.

….

Paya had watched A'luet questionably as he and Ph'in removed their kill's heads but not A'luet. He didn't say anything but wondered why the Yautja wouldn't participate in the ritual. He needed some prove that he had killed a Kainde Amedha in order to be accepted as Blooded. Then he saw him removing the alien's nails, stowing them in his pack. _Medicinal properties. _Paya snorted. After the juices were collected, the nails would be enough proof.

…..

A'luet bit his gums to avoid making any sound as Paya dealt with the burns he had received. In the scheme of how it could have played out, A'luet was lucky. Damn lucky in Paya's own words. The blood had only burnt down to his bone in one small area of his bicep, other than that the other wounds were superficial.

Paya smoothed some of the blue paste from the med-pak over the hole and then cauterized it, sealing the healing properties inside the wound. "Better than nothing," Paya finally said, capping his solder pen.

"Thanks."

"No, thanks to you."

A'luet paused in moving over the large flat plateau they had found in an ancient tree high off the ground. "Why? For what?"

"The fire you idiot. That was ingenious. If you hadn't done that, I think we would have been a lot more screwed than we already were. Blinded the hell out of my pauk-de."

"Oh." A'luet managed, embarrassed. "Your welcome." He leaned against the trunk of the tree, and breathed in slowly.

"There were 208 Kainde Amedha when we landed here." Ph'in was tapping various controls on his gauntlet. "If this is accurate than there's roughly 75 left."

"They're in the pyramid," A'luet murmured. He glanced at his two friends. _Is that what they are?_

"Will it count if we level it?" Ph'in asked. "That wouldn't be cheating?"

A'luet shrugged and immediately regretted it. "They sent us here to kill Kainde Amedha. What would it matter how we kill them as long as they are dead?"

"A'luet." Paya called softly, his skin paler than usual. "There is only one other group and us left."

Ph'in cocked his head. "How do you know that?"

Paya bent his arm towards them. Sure enough a broadcast from the ship spoke of the grim news. "Since there are only six of us, they're putting a time constraint on the Chiva. Forcing us to hurry up. Basically it'll be easier for us to get killed…since we're going to have the countdown ticking on our arms."

"Make us make more mistakes," Ph'in added slowly as he processed Paya's words.

A'luet was quiet for a moment. Then he looked up. "How tired are you?"


	15. Chapter 15

They took to sleeping in shifts. One stayed up while the other two slept. A'luet attempted to take the first shift, his mind made up to simply "forget" to wake Paya when his turn came. However Paya was too smart to believe him when he denied it.

"You are injured A'luet, _I'm_ taking first shift and _you _can shut up about it because you aren't going to win this argument."

Deep down A'luet was grateful Paya put up a fight and fell asleep within minutes of his eyes shutting.

….

It was before the suns rose that the three sat on the wide plateau of the tree and drew the insignia of their tribe on their masks with the bloodied claws of the Kainde Amedha.

Ph'in then hesitated. "Should we-?" He trailed off either embarrassed or not knowing how to phrase his question. He tried again. "My ma'da had a mark on her forehead."

A'luet and Paya glanced at each other. Illeya hadn't had a mark to show she was blooded, as A'luet figured when he got older it depended on the different clans as to what customs were followed.

"Guess it's what ever you want to do," Paya chucked his claw over the side of the tree floor.

Ph'in was silent, long enough for A'luet to realize he was staring at his burnt arm. He flinched when he saw A'luet watching him. "Think I'll stick to my helmet," he whispered.

"So, what's the plan, O' Wise Leader?" Paya asked like nothing happened.

A'luet didn't answer right away because he hadn't recognized Paya was talking to him. "What?"

Paya growled a soft noise of irritation as he attempted to swat a large fly buzzing around his head. He finally yanked his dagger loose and nailed the thing to a branch as it tried to fly away. "Gotcha you pauke-de." He turned back to A'luet. "I'm talking to you."

"I get that. Why are you calling me the leader?"

Paya shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? You are the reason why Ph'in and I are most likely still breathing."

A'luet rolled his eyes. "The fire thing really-"

"-Was fucking brilliant." Paya straightened from his lean. "A'luet. How old are you?"

Not understanding the significance of the question, he was hesitant to answer. "17 seasons."

Paya nodded. "I'm 18. This _is_ my first Chiva. However I was sent out to a reserve last year with three others, alone. You're looking at the only survivor." He looked away. "Two got into a vicious fight over leadership. I'm not talking about a scratch or two. Lip'sis and I watched one of them get his arm ripped off; he died from blood loss after Thi'th refused to let us cauterize his wound. Then Thi'th was too much of a moron, he was eaten by some asininely huge carnivorous plant three hours later, no lie."

"What happened to Lip'sis?" Ph'in asked when Paya didn't give any more information.

"I killed him."

A'luet felt his stomach flip. _Killed him?_

"-Because if I didn't, he would have killed me. That's the only reason I wasn't labeled a Bad Blood." Paya cracked his shoulder. "He didn't like the idea of sharing honor.

"But you. I'm not an idiot. I know a good candidate for the leader role when I see one. And at least now I can say I enjoyed the company of my Chiva mates"

"I'm younger than you."

"Paya growled again. "Age has nothing to do with it. No offense Ph'in, but would you rather him do it?"

"No that's okay," Ph'in was quick to say.

"So. I ask you again. What's next?"

A'luet considered arguing further but could tell he wouldn't get anywhere, and the fact that Ph'in was as for it as Paya was, would only make it more challenging for him to win. So instead of wasting energy thinking up new arguments, he gave considerable thought as to the next course of action. "We're blooded now, so that means we have a right to the weapons here." He didn't have to say more.

"Excellent." Paya thumped his shoulder but not too hard to jostle him much because of his arm. "Let's go."

…

Early morning mist swirled around the jungle floor as they slowly made their way towards the pyramid highlighted on their maps. Deciding they were too hungry to continue any further without eating, A'luet stood with Ph'in on the bank of the large river as Paya fished. Listening to the various animal calls echoing through out the trees, A'luet wasn't paying much attention until he caught sight of something glint in the sunlight streaming through the canopies above them. He left Ph'in's side, drawing closer to the object. It wasn't until he was within bounding distance that he saw the reflection for what it was. _No way. Is shit hidden right in plain sight?_ He reached up and cut the cord loose, letting four good sized smart discs fall into his hand. Then his sharp hearing picked up another sound, quite different from the animals-_what animals?_ The calls had stopped, making the forest eerily quiet.

Skittering, at least two sets of skittering of multiple legs. "Shit." He hissed. He turned in time to see ferns shaking aside behind Paya who was intent on some type of crustacean. No thought, just reacting, he turned completely to face the river. "PAYA!"

The Yautja jerked up.

"DUCK!" A'luet didn't know how the hell smart discs worked but he prayed zinging them through the air would be enough. Two facehuggers sprang out of the brush, their eight legs spread wide and their tails flailing as they hurdled in a race to reach Paya first. With a quick buzz in succession of one another, the smart discs spun through the air, barely missing Paya's leg and face, and cut through the two huggers like they were nothing. The pieces dropped into the river, making Paya leave the water quickly to avoid his legs burning off from the acid.

"Damnit." He fished out the remains of burnt shell of the breakfast he had been hunting. "Fucking freaks certainly know how to ruin good food." He turned and stomped back to his pack, chucking the shell over his shoulder back into the water. "Thanks A'luet."

A'luet had since hesitantly caught the smart discs in midair as they came sailing back at him. Afraid he was going to lose a finger or two catching them, he didn't know how to grab them but was force to as they came back nearly in his face. Having them in his hands now, he saw the deadly blades had folded in right before he caught them. He nudged Ph'in. "Take one."

"Thanks." Ph'in took it, studying its sleek surface.

A'luet dropped one on Paya's pack as he went to retrieve his. The Yautja glanced down from drinking his flask, and shot A'luet a grin. "These things scare the shit out of me."

"Why?" A'luet put his away.

Paya shrugged. "Nothing mechanical is supposed to be smarter than me."

"Too much competition?"

"Damn right."

A'luet bent to pick up his combi-stick, shaking his head. "Come on. There should be more food down stream."

…

Around mid-day, the dirt path disappeared and there was nothing but unyielding nature. In the gloom of the deep forest, A'luet's mask lit the pyramid up; telling him it was less than a twenty-minute walk.

He nearly shit himself when a large leafy fern hit him in the face. Ph'in glanced at him guiltily over his shoulder. "Sorry."

A'luet opened his mouth to make light of the situation but paused when he saw a dark shadow ahead. The pyramid. They stopped to simply stare at it. The sight of it suddenly unnerved them now that what they had to deal with was so close.

"I thought it would be you three who might have survived this long."

The Yautja who had shown attitude during the Instructor's speech swaggered towards them with his two group members.

"And I didn't think it would have been you who survived this long Al'Gah," Paya retorted.

"Well." The Yautja stopped uncomfortably close to A'luet who took a causal step back. "We all have to deal with disappointment, don't we T'jierk?"

_ T'jierk?_ Unable to listen to anything else said, A'luet swiveled to face Paya. "Your name is T'jierk Paya?"

Paya looked at him or at least A'luet thought maybe he had since it was hard to tell. He was wearing his mask. "Yeah." For the first time since A'luet had met him, the Yautja's voice was guarded.

Al'Gah snorted. "Just figured it out have you?"

"He wasn't told Al'gah, shut it." Paya snarled.

A'luet wasn't listening to the idiot next to him. "Is that a common name on Prime or are you and I kind of it?"

Ph'in was standing between them, his head going between them like a smart disc on a constant fly through the air.

Paya shrugged. "To my knowledge you and me are it."

Deep down A'luet knew this was the least of the important things they had to do before leaving the island, but he couldn't believe what he was hearing. An'nu had never said anything about having another son. The conversations they had had over the years, he made it sound like Illeya was the only one he had ever mated with. And Paya definitely wasn't Issa's son; she hadn't yet birthed any children.

"How very touching." A different voice interrupted, invisible it turned out since there was no one in the clearing with them. "A family reunion, though an awkward one."

A'luet knew that voice. Memories of the first reserve planet his family had taken him to when he was ten resurfaced.

_She stopped walking; making him stop with her, she turned him and grasped him tightly by both shoulders. "Bad bloods A'luet. They are very dangerous."_

_ "Yes, that's what they say," a deep guttural voice agreed. _

_ She spun around, the trio standing behind her. _

_ "Release your camouflage little lady, we know you're there."_

"You gotta be shitting me." He said, not scared just stunned that he would fall across this particular Yautja twice in his lifetime, less than a decade apart it would appear and in two separate spots light years away from each other.

One of Al'Gah's group mates was too stupid to see the danger they were in company of. "Pretty brave of some ghost to be listening in on others' conversations, don'cha think?"

There was a moment of silence and then humming of a weapon charging up. A white burst of power flew out from a spot ahead of the group and to the left; the flashes of the plasma caster lighting up the camouflaged body. The shot hit the Yautja who goaded the invisible voice with enough power to fling him back, his masked head popping like a rotten seed. Al'Gah's high and mighty attitude gone, he and his remaining Chiva partner flinched when the Yautja's blood showered them.

The Bad Blood became visible, his camouflage melting away, his own two partners uncloaking with him. "Anyone else care to be smart?"

Everyone stayed silent. A'luet risked glancing at Paya. The Yautja was stock still, staring at one particular male on the leader's right. A'luet looked between the two. Then it hit him. Paya wasn't An'nu's son. _Strangya._ An'nu and Issa had said he died. Why wouldn't they have said anything about their nephew walking around Prime? _They don't know about him. _And if he had died, why was Paya staring at that male? _Because that is Strangya...Holy shit. Did Issa know? Had she known that day? Did An'nu know?_ Then it really hit him. _I am staring at my uncle. My uncle, who has been with this Bad Blood this entire time. _

"Now the next question is, what are we going to do with you five?"

"Let us go?" Al'Gah's remaining partner sounded hopeful.

The Bad Blood seemed to really consider it. "Well yes, I suppose that would be a possible choice now wouldn't it." He cracked his neck. "However there is that glaring fact that you all now know we exist. What's that motto we have Bol'Ev?"

The Yautja in question let out a weird laugh, oddly high pitched for their species. "Leave no witnesses."

"That's right." The leader threw his hands out theatrically, acting like his partner really had jogged his memory. He turned back to the young Yautja. "I'm sorry my dear little ones, but take comfort in knowing you will be fondly remembered as the honored Blooded."

A'luet wasn't going to accept this. Not after he had survived his clan being massacred, after all the shit he had been through to get to the relationship he had today with his family-his father, not after killing his first Kainde Amedha (getting his arm burned in the process) and the R'ipt Syndrome…he wasn't going to be killed off by some outcast criminal running amok in the universe.

He happened to look down at the headless body of the Yautja the leader had murdered. A Plasma Caster was attached to his pack, miraculously undamaged by the blast that had removed its owner's head. _Two seconds, that's all I need…._ he turned back to the leader. _Make that three._

Paya's masked face tilted his way. Even though he couldn't see his cousin's face, he knew Paya was waiting for his mark. Ph'in noticed but thankfully was not an idiot and made a big deal in letting the Bad Bloods know something was cooking right in front of them. A'luet took a breath. _Probably my last one. _And reached into his pack feeling the smart disks he yanked his hands out and sent them spinning through the air.


	16. Chapter 16

The first disk the Bad Blood was ready for as he slapped it away with his sudden appearing combi-stick, the second one he missed. A'luet allowed a split second of satisfaction as he watched the wicked blades slice across the Yautja's forearm, skinning the top layer of skin off. He let out an enraged snarl but A'luet was already in motion with Paya and Ph'in immediately covering him, no verbal instructions necessary.

He dove for the headless body, feeling the heat from a plasma caster as the shot barely missed his head. _Shit._ He tried to yank the caster off of the dead Yautja's pack, panic setting in when it didn't come loose right away.

"C'jit! C'mon…." He growled, pulling it. Someone appeared next to him, startling him, their hand grabbing his Combi when he brought it up to stab them with it. It was Al'Gah. He let go and slid the caster downward, the weapon coming loose.

"Open your gauntlet. Hurry up!" The Yautja snapped when A'luet didn't move fast enough. The angry snarls were getting louder around them as Paya, Ph'in and Al'Gah's remaining Chiva mate attempted to hold the three Bad Bloods off. Al'Gah slid the caster into place by A'luet's shoulder and then snatched his arm to mess with his gauntlet.

"Centanu, we don't have time for this-!" A'luet tried to yank away and stand.

"You will have time if you don't want to blast one of us!" Al'Gah snapped. He threw A'luet's arm away from him. "Don't think too much about it. Just focus on what you want to hit."

A'luet watched the Yautja's own caster rise up over his shoulder and take aim. Three dots that formed a triangle appeared on the Yautja the leader had called Bol'Ev. A'luet focused on Bol'Ev too, a second cluster of red dots appeared on the back of the Bad Blood's head. A'luet could just hear the caster start to hum to life when he was tackled hard, him and his attacker rolling down the uneven embankment into the jungle brush. A'luet fought hard against the Yautja thinking it was the leader; he then realized it was the one Paya had been staring at. _Strangya._ The much stronger male got the upper hand quickly, trying to choke off A'luet's air supply. Finally A'luet was able to get his foot bent enough to dig into Strangya's ribs; with a strained grunt he flipped the Yautja over his head. He heard Strangya groan as he landed hard some where below A'luet after crashing heavily through the brush. A'luet got to his hands and knees painfully and felt for his spear; with a jolt he saw it was missing. "The fuck-" He started looking around for it frantically. A glint far enough out of reach above his head made him glance up, his mother's combi-stick was hanging from a branch. He dug his claws into the earth and pulled himself upward; his fingers were just closing around it when he was yanked down. He managed to grasp the spear before he hit the ground below again. He found himself staring into Strangya's unforgiving blank mask. He barely had time to twist his head away from a well-placed punch that would have easily caved his face in despite him wearing his own mask. Strangya growled and wrapped his hand tightly around A'luet's neck, partially lifting him into the air. About the time A'luet started to see stars and the welcoming blackness began to cloud his senses the painful pressure vanished as he collapsed on the ground. Choking on the sudden air he could breathe again, he weakly looked up. Strangya was staring down at him, his arms limp by his sides; and then he dropped next to A'luet, tilting his head. A'luet couldn't look away and couldn't move as the Yautja reached out towards him. He felt the necklace his father had given him lift up from his skin.

"Where did you get this?" Strangya asked his voice astonished.

A triumphant yell above them stopped A'luet from answering right away, and then he murmured, "An'nu…An'nu gave it to me."

Strangya didn't make a sound, his posture frozen. Then he bent down swiftly and yanked A'luet to his feet. "Let's go kill some Bad Bloods."

….

A'luet pulled himself up to solid ground with Strangya behind him. He knew he'd be a moron to trust the Yautja's sudden change in behavior. He got to his feet to see Paya head locked by the Leader. Al'Gah was half conscious on the ground nearby, his mask off and Ph'in was being held down by Bol'Ev with his clawed foot. With a jolt he saw Al'Gah's remaining mate was dead, green glowing blood oozing from multiple wounds including his headless shoulders.

The leader guffawed loudly at seeing A'luet. "You four certainly are feisty, I'll give you that. But now you're going to pay for your stupidity. Bage'ah subdue him."

_Who the hell is Bage'ah?_ Then he got it. Strangya had never told the Bad Bloods his real name. He glanced behind him to his newly found uncle. Strangya didn't move.

"Bage'ah!" The leader snarled.

A'luet heard a series of growling; time seemed to slow as he turned towards the pyramid, several Amedha Kainde shadows scurrying along the inner walls of the entrance.

"BAGE'AH! I said-!"

Strangya flipped his gauntlet cover up. "Ell-osde pauk." He hit a button and the world disappeared.

….

_ Distorted. Muffled…. Dark. Can't see. Dark. Pain. Can't move. Pain. Dark…. _

It felt like his eyes were glued shut, his head in a fog he forced his eyelids open to look around. His mask was off, a face loomed above him as it swayed and changed from big to small. He coughed, his throat sore.

" 'hat 'appened?"

Paya answered, his expression tight with worry. "He rigged that pyramid to explode long ago."

A'luet rolled into a fetal ball, his ribs flaring in continual breath-taking agony. "Who?" He gasped, trying to sit up. Paya pushed him back down.

"Rest A'luet." Then Paya snorted. "You need to put some weight on kid. That blast lifted you as easily as a smart disc zipping through the air."

A'luet groaned as he tried to let his muscles relax enough to allow the pain to dissipate, it was hard with the constant spasms shooting up his spine.

Familiar footfalls approached; for a split second he thought it was his father coming towards him until he remembered An'nu was on Yautja Prime and _he-_Al'uet- was in the Kehrite de Kantra.

He flinched when a sharp stab pierced his spinal cord but didn't care in the next moment as the pain melted away. Strangya stood from his half kneel. "That should help." He cocked his head, his eyes staring down at A'luet, his eyes that were so very much like An'nu's. "I'm sorry. I tried to push you out of the way of the blast."

A'luet gave a stiff shrug. " 'S doesn't matter." He pulled himself into a sitting position. "The Amedha Kainde are dead?"

Paya nodded. "We just finished cleaning up the entrance to the pyramid and first ceremonial rooms, burned the bodies, everything else was fried. The Elders contacted us, the drop ship should be here within the hour."

A'luet nodded weakly, though he found he didn't care. Paya pushed some food into his shaking hands. A'luet stared at it for a second or two. "You finally caught something?"

"Shut up," Paya retorted with an amused grin. "I'll have you know, I'm an excellent hunter for food."

A'luet scoffed and regretted it as the stiffness in his chest made him gag. At Paya's expression he knew more than he was letting on about A'luet's injuries. "What?"

Paya stared at him, unwilling to answer. Ph'in who had come to join them, down casted his eyes when A'luet glanced at him. It was Strangya who answered, having heard enough of the conversation to understand what was going on.

"The left side of your ribcage is smashed in. The only reason you can't feel it is because of the epidermal I gave you. It'll last long enough for you to return to Prime."

Al'Gah cocked his head, having finally seemed to get over the shock of what had transpired not too long ago. "You're not coming with us?"

Strangya didn't even look at him. "No, I'll be viewed as one of them, a Bad Blood. They aren't going to ask for my side of the story, I'll be executed on the spot if they see me."

A'luet coughed and tasted flecks of blood in his mouth. He hoped he wasn't permanently crippled after this.

_ An'nu sighed. "Iss, we all get scarred during our Chivas, you got scarred, I got scarred and J'mper too._

He had just finished eating his food carefully when he saw three laser dots appear on Strangya's back, followed by several more. "Pauk." He tried to get up quickly but instead ended up stumbling to put himself between Strangya and the lasers. Paya jumped to his feet and stood by his side with both Ph'in and Al'Gah standing just out of range, unsure.

"Get out of the way!" A Yautja appeared as he switched his camouflage off, his caster humming lowly.

"No." A'luet rasped, making the Yautja click in annoyance. One of his buddies stopped at seeing the enormous hole that used to be the pyramid, he tapped the leader and pointed. They appeared to be lost for words for a moment and then the leader returned his attention to A'luet.

"How did you blow that up? There are no weapons in this Chiva that would allow you to do that."

A'luet felt his world spin and he struggled to remain standing. The leader and his two mates became doubles.

"I did it." Strangya admitted without fear. Paya saw him staring at A'luet's back in concern. "He needs medical attention immediately." As if to prove his point, A'luet lost his ability to stand. He splayed his fingers out in the earth to try and hold onto what little balance he had left. Paya moved closer to him but remained standing in apprehension that the leader still might shoot his father.

With an angered growl, the leader switched off his targeting device, the red lasers disappearing from Strangya's chest. "Gather what you need. You too." He pointed at Strangya as he came forward. A'luet was just aware enough to see that the new squad was quickly putting together a stretcher by his side. _Hell no._

"I'm not getting on that," he stated thickly.

The leader snorted. "I don't think you have a choice."

"Yeah, I do." He struggled to his feet, trying to ignore the stiffness in his chest and abdomen. He almost fell over but was caught by Paya. Having originally assumed that Paya escaped without injury he found he was wrong when he saw long bloody furrows on his forearms and one slicing across his neck stopping precariously near his jugular. _The Bad Bloods._

Once they had everything they needed, the squad began to lead them through the jungle to the drop ship. A fourth Yautja met them in the trees, his bulk the biggest A'luet had ever seen. _He's an arbitrator._ He fell into step directly behind Strangya, his hand on his Dah'nagara, ready at a moment's notice if Strangya decided to flee or fight.

Eventually the ship came into view, a Yautja who was probably the pilot and another Yautja who was a medic were sitting on the platform leading into the vehicle, waiting.

The leader turned and grabbed A'luet, attempting to be gentle but towing him quickly over to the medic. "This one needs attention and that one." He pointed to Paya. "Get this heap in the air!" He barked to the rest of the crew who all quickly darted into the plane.

A'luet had just enough time to see the leader watch as the arbitrator slapped cuffs on Strangya before the medic towed him and his cousin on board to the medic station.


	17. Chapter 17

A'luet awoke groggily, a powerful pain medication flowing through his system. _Weird I can feel it…_Then he understood. _C'jit am I high. _He forced himself to look around the small room. Paya and the medic were nowhere to be found and he couldn't hear them either. _In the galley probably. _Stiffly he sat up, fuzzily pleased that he no longer hurt. He lost track of how long he sat there, a few minutes? He didn't know. Whatever the medic gave him was awesome; he found himself contemplating whether he'd get caught if he smuggled some of what ever it was off the ship once they were home. Then An'nu's face appeared in his mind followed by the rest of his family including Kainde. With a small amount of disappointment, he realized he couldn't do that. He had seen a few addicts on the ship he had reunited with his father on. He didn't want to be like them, it was low what those Yautja did just to be able to score powerful numbing drugs even if their reasoning had weight. Issa had once mentioned in passing before An'nu silenced her with a glare that the addicts had seen some shit and they needed relief.

_Issa, An'nu….__** Strangya**_. He had forgotten that the Yautja was onboard the ship. He had to see him.

…

Silently he observed a Yautja pacing lazily by a door from around the corner. It had been insanely easy to get from the med room to the cargo hold without being seen, though A'luet was fairly certain there were cameras everywhere. Just when he was attempting to figure out a distraction in order to gain entry his answer came when the arbitrator came into view, calling the guard over. The arbitrator didn't have his mask on or the guard now that A'luet saw them clearer. _Kinda dumb, what if Strangya tried to escape?_

A'luet tapped his gauntlet's screen and shielded himself with invisibility and slowly but stiffly rose to his full height. Barely breathing he crept towards the brig and while half way there realized his dilemma. He couldn't walk through walls, he'd have to open the door and the two yautja were right there.

_Pauk!_

Nerves set in as he found himself stuck, invisible in the hall, diagonal from two male yautja who would probably start noticing his musk soon enough. Trying to figure out his next move his eyes landed on a steam pipe that wrapped around the corner of the hall. The smart disks were quiet, not like the shuriken that announced its arrival with a loud whistling noise that followed in its wake. He quietly took his smart disk out of his pack he had found in a locker in the medic's office; readying himself to slice the pipe for a distraction when a third yautja appeared, relaying that A'luet had disappeared and that all personal were needed. _Cetanu, there is a god. _

"What about the prisoner?" The guard asked.

"Forget it. He isn't getting out of there."

Apprehensive, the yautja followed the arbitrator and third male.

….

He waited a beat to make sure the three wouldn't return before going to the door and using the medic's extra key card he had swiped to open it. The brig was dark, so dark A'luet wished he had brought his mask so he could use the heat-sensatory ability.

"You shouldn't be in here."

A'luet turned from the door to look into the black room. "Why not?" He asked, hoping he could use Strangya's voice to locate him.

Strangya didn't answer immediately. "You know why kid."

A'luet had moved as the yautja spoke. He found Strangya in the last cell. "You're related to me."

"Only by blood." Strangya was quick to respond. He finally glanced up; A'luet's vision had adjusted enough for him to be able to see the color of the yautja's eyes. An'nu's eyes. "I'm not saying that to be an asshole. I'm saying it because it's true. You are what, 17 seasons? And you're just now meeting me?"

A'luet wrapped his fingers around the bars of the cage. "I want you to say you disappearing wasn't planned. That you didn't intentionally hurt your brother and sister."

Strangya narrowed his eyes and then stood, almost a head taller than him, coming close to the bars. "Why do you care so much?" The yautja tilted his head and then paced the length of the door holding him in. "Yautja don't give two shits about each other…you're a smart kid, I'm sure you know that. We live for the hunt and only the hunt. We don't get caught up in family affairs. You're lucky if you trip over your siblings once in your lifetime and it usually isn't a friendly reunion."

A'luet thought briefly back to when Issa had first returned to An'nu, the animosity the two had for each other before it eventually died as A'luet grew older.

"An'nu and Issa have lived together now for five years, _peacefully._"

Strangya didn't miss his nephew's sarcastic last choosing of words, but chose not to comment; instead he shot the D'jilk a withering look.

"So that's why you left? Didn't want to deal with family affairs? That still doesn't explain why Issa and I fell across you and your two comrades five years ago and then just yesterday."

Strangya scoffed and went and sat on the metal bunk. "I don't have to explain myself to a D'jilk."

"They're gonna execute you and you may not even deserve it."

"Again, any other yautja would say 'what ever' to this conversation."

"I'm not any other yautja," A'luet shot back.

"You got that right," the yautja muttered. "You're a thousand times more of a pain in the ass.

–Can't believe An'nu dealt with it all these years."  
>"He didn't have a choice. My mother died when I was ten."<p>

"Did she now. One of his concubines I would imagine."

"She wasn't a whore if that's what you're referring to. Illeya was better than that."

Strangya got very still, scarcely breathing. Then he slowly looked over at A'luet. "Illeya's dead?"

Unnerved at Strangya's sudden change in mood, A'luet hesitated at answering. "Yeah. It was a U'darahje."

Strangya stopped breathing all together and then let out a burst of pent up air and hung his head, his dreads falling just so to hide his face, his hands gripped the edge of the bunk. A'luet didn't know what to say, to ask or do; so he stood waiting.

"You were ten."

Not knowing if it was a question or a statement, A'luet said, "yeah."

"And you were born and raised on G'wieth'na."

A'luet didn't answer, not liking where the conversation was going and the fact that Strangya knew his birth planet.

"T'jank'e was always a sick pauk." Strangya trailed off but A'luet was getting the picture quickly. He backed away from the cage.

"You put Kainde Amedha eggs in the jungle I lived in?"

"Not me, T'jank'e did." Strangya looked over at him. "Until just now, I didn't know the reasons behind it or at least they didn't make sense to me."

"What reasons?"

Strangya never got to answer because of the sudden light that filled the room.

"You." The medic jabbed a finger at him. "Should not be out of bed." He marched up to A'luet and towed him towards the door.

The arbitrator was at the door along with five other crewmembers. _The whole ship personal. _"How did you get in here?" The large yautja lost no time demanding. Not even caring about the reaction he'd receive, he silently handed the arbitrator the medic's key card.

….

Paya didn't question A'luet's stony silence the rest of the day. He didn't question A'luet shutting the nuke-core lamp off, getting into bed and rolling away from him to face the wall. Ph'in glanced over at him uneasy, before his gaze retracted to A'luet's back.

He rolled his eyes and lay down, ignoring Ph'in's persistent looks his way.

….

**Yautja Prime**

An'nu paced like a caged animal as the travelling vessel slowly descended and the base locks locked the ship into place. He had told himself that he'd know if something happened to his son, but the truth was he didn't. He honestly didn't know what he'd do if the Chiva contestants filed out and A'luet wasn't one of them. _It would be like __**him**__ all over again._

Usually when he was like this Issa would take the opportunity to give him shit, but she didn't this time. Her face for once was tight with worry, her body stiff as she waited like him. A shadow appeared on Issa's left. Kainde gave An'nu a nod of acknowledgement before his artificial eyes trained on the ship that was now lowering its hatch.

….

The first thing to hit A'luet was the humid blast of air as the hatch opened. There was a crowd off to the right of the open concept terminal, clearly waiting for the Chiva contestants to return. _There's going to be large amounts of disappointment. _Even from his position he could see the crowd already starting to whisper among themselves as they took in the three lone survivors of the ninety-something group A'luet had travelled with.

Paya nudged his arm. "Come on." Slowly the two left with Ph'in following as the crew behind them worked on docking the ship and emptying it of its goods.

When their feet hit the dusty clay like dirt, Paya glanced at him. "Guess I'll see you around."

"What? Wait." A'luet reached out to grab his cousin's arm. The male glanced at the hold on his arm and then at A'luet's face.

When words failed him Paya said, "it's going to raise too many questions if I go over there with you."

A'luet shrugged, still feeling the lasting healing effects of his smashed in ribcage. "So what? You fought, killed Kainde Amedha, dealt with Bad Bloods and you're worried about meeting your family?"

"It isn't that simple A'luet." Paya gestured to the crowd around them. "It's going to spread, the rumors. This city already knows I killed a yautja, it isn't going to take long for them to find out my father ran with Bad Bloods for all these years. I'm going to be outcast"

"No. You won't." A'luet spotted An'nu and the others searching the crowd from their corner, no doubt having lost the 'three survivors' in the massive crowd.

"Ph'in punched Paya's arm in comrade. "You'll regret it if you don't go with him." Then an over-the-top female who towered over the three of them burst out of the crowd and overtook the yautja, having spotted him and shrieked loudly. A'luet had never seen a female so big. Issa was only a head or so taller than An'nu and Illeya and the females of his clan had all been small compared to the average size of a woman.

Paya yanked A'luet back so that they wouldn't be accidently walloped by the female who was about crushing Ph'in in her arms. The yautja's eyes were bulged. "Help me." He managed to squeak.

Paya's face lit up in an evil grin. "Sorry mate. I don't get involved where females are concerned."

A'luet shrugged and gave a laugh. "See you around Ph'in. Don't be a stranger."

"I might be dead if she doesn't stop crushing me!"

"A truly tragic end to his life if that happens." Paya grinned as they maneuvered through the crowd. "Survive your Chiva only to be crushed to death by an overbearing, needy mother."

"Mother?" A'luet glanced over his shoulder to look at Ph'in but the yautja was nowhere to be seen.

"Honestly kid, you really think he's banging that? She'd kill him before they even got started."

"Good point."

Paya shot him an amused look before his face faded to blankness. A'luet turned to see what he was looking at. An'nu had spotted him. A'luet tapped his elbow against his cousin's. "Come on." This time Paya didn't argue. He followed, though with some trepidation.

An'nu halted in his tracks half way to A'luet, who had also come to a stop a few feet from him.

When An'nu didn't say anything, A'luet did. "Hey."

Issa had come up along side her brother, her expression as if she still didn't believe he was there in flesh. "Three?" She finally asked. "That's all that is left? I can't believe you are one of the three."

"Of course he is." Kainde said loudly, his eyes dancing in his sockets. "Why the hell not?"

A'luet took that opportunity to add Paya in the conversation. "We both are." He took a step back so he was next to Paya, whose expression changed to as if he was being thrown to a murderous animal. "He's T'jierk…my cousin. Paya."

An'nu immediately stared at the young Blood. He finally managed to say something. "I was told you were born…but then someone said you died."

Paya gave a half shrug. "My mother was a bit of a nutcase, she used to have conversations with bushes. She probably told everyone I died because there was some regime after me, so she said."

"Are you living with her?"

Paya shot An'nu a look like he was the nutty one. "No. I got the hell out of that situation as quick as I could."

"Don't blame you there." Kainde grunted, before being tapped on the shoulder by an Elder who appeared out of seemingly thin air. He turned away from the conversation to deal with him.

"You can stay with us if you want." An'nu's eyes flickered to Kainde's back.

"You don't have to do that." Paya shifted unease.

"We know we don't have to." Issa interrupted. "We want to."

Paya glanced at A'luet for help. Then. "Okay."

Kainde had turned around to face them. His scarred face was serious as he stared directly at A'luet. "You are wanted at the Court in ten minutes."


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: I apologize for the shortness of this particular chapter; I know it's usually not the case. I kept this short on purpose, partly to be mean (: Evil laugh:) and mostly because of the upcoming chapters. **

**Anyways: Enjoy and thank you to all who take the time to read this story and follow A'luet on his journeys. Happy Reading!**

The murmuring from the Tribunal was a low buzz to A'luet as he waited for them to address him. To his left were J'mper, Issa and An'nu, waiting in the shadows. Since his son's return to Prime, An'nu had relaxed; a constant cloud of worry had enshrouded the older Yautja in A'luet's absence. Now his father just looked tired, tired but proud.  
>The buzzing stopped as the members of the Tribunal ended their conversation. The elders, including Kainde and to A'luet's surprise Zeke, took their seats. Some looked interested in him, some were neutral and some, like the leader, looked annoyed.<br>" Roan'keh -T-jeirk A'luet. Do you know why you are here?"  
>He was truthful. "Not entirely Elder. I assumed it was due to the-" he didn't know how to refer to Strangya. "The fugitive."<br>"We'll get to that matter later." The leader snapped, earning a vehement glare from Kainde, three seats down the table. "I would like you to recite the one rule of the Chiva all prospects are expected to adhered by."  
>A'luet glanced up, confused at the question. <em>The one rule of the Chiva all prospects are expected to adhered by?<em> He shot a look at his family, specifically his father, not understanding what he was obviously being accused of. _Cheating? Is he really accusing me of cheating?_

The Yautja noticed his fleeting glance. "Don't look at them, they are not going to help you."

Zeke and Kainde shared a silent moment of blatant annoyance, telling A'luet immediately that he wasn't completely fucked.

"I do not understand the question, my Elder." Normally A'luet didn't bother being extra polite with the Ancients. He showed proper respect for them because if you didn't your head would be swiftly removed, but he felt the moment needed it.

The leading official 'tsked'. "You don't understand…how about I spell it out to you? Would that help you out?"

The condescending tone sparked A'luet's natural urge to want to pummel the male Yautja where he sat; from Zeke's expression he saw the growing wave of anger building up in the young predator, he gave a slight shake of his head, warning A'luet not to do anything stupid.

"The Kainde Amedha Chiva has been held for longer than you'd be able to comprehend, long ago it was totally unregulated. Today, _you_ are fortunate enough to have regulations set. And we are even gracious enough to send you into your Chiva with two other prospects. Therefore, the most important rule in the Chiva is for _each prospect_ to hunt and kill the pauk-de Kainde Amedha by themselves, which _you _did not do."

A'luet forgot politeness. "What? We never once helped each other kill Kainde Amedha." Then it came to him. He remembered having seen glints of metal high up in the trees around the arena, but hadn't given them much thought until then. _Cameras…we were being filmed. The river. The facehuggers._ A'luet took a breath to steady his reeling emotions. "If you are referring to the river where I killed two facehuggers who were about to suction-cup themselves to my Chiva mate's face, that isn't fair. He wasn't even aware of them; he was fishing for pauk sakes. I killed them. He had no clue they were even there. I didn't have _help _killing them."

Having been mentioned Paya flushed and tried to ignore and avoid questioning eyes.

The leader stared down at him, haughtily. "Which brings me to the final rule. No family members within each Chiva pod."

At that mention, Paya blanched, A'luet watched his mouth form the words 'what?'

"That's not a rule." He snapped, ignoring the fact that Kainde had opened his mouth to confront the leader, as had a few others. "I didn't even find out Paya was my cousin until yesterday, our last day of the Chiva. And I don't give a Kainde Amedha's ass if he was my blood or not, him being either didn't influence me killing the facehuggers. I killed the facehuggers because it was the right thing to do.

"You Elders who still believe in the old school method of every man for himself is bullshit. Times have changed. Personally you should be happy three of us returned alive. Especially since half of the other eighty-seven _Chiva prospects_ weren't even killed by the Kainde Amedha, they were killed off by the Bad Bloods _YOU_ failed to realize were living in the area."

Stunned silence deafened the room as all the members of the Tribunal and the small audience watched the young yautja. No one had ever dared to be so blunt with them out of fear of what would happen. A'luet was past caring. He had a semi healed burned arm, got his ribs crushed, killed Kainde Amedha and fought with Bad Bloods; he was tired and he wanted to go home.

The yautja to the leader's right, a female A'luet realized, whispered in his ear and gave him a hard once over. Clearly not impressed with what ever she had said, the official turned back to A'luet. "Based on this Young Blood's testimony, all in favor of dropping the accusation and potential punishment?"

Zeke and Kainde were first to raise their hands, then the female, soon the rest of the Tribunal followed suit; displeasing the leader immensely who didn't bother hiding it.

"You see the decision Roan'keh -T-jeirk, that matter has been dropped. Now-"

_What now?_

"The fugitive…what do you have to say on that subject, seeing as you have no problem opening your mouth."

Coming down off his adrenaline rush, A'luet had to reach through the cloud of exhaustion to focus hard on what he was being asked. "There isn't much to tell. He didn't give them his real name. They called him Bage'ah. Other than that, I don't know why he was with them."

Memories of his clan's slaughter flickered through his head like a bad hologram picture.

_Strangya stopped breathing all together and then let out a burst of pent up air and hung his head, his dreads falling just so to hide his face, his hands gripped the edge of the bunk. A'luet didn't know what to say, to ask or do; so he stood waiting. _

_ "You were ten."_

_ Not knowing if it was a question or a statement, A'luet said, "yeah." _

_ "And you were born and raised on G'wieth'na." _

_ A'luet didn't answer, not liking where the conversation was going and the fact that Strangya knew his birth planet. _

_ "T'jank'e was always a sick pauk." Strangya trailed off but A'luet was getting the picture quickly. He backed away from the cage. _

_ "You put Kainde Amedha eggs in the jungle I lived in?" _

_ "Not me, T'jank'e did." _

A'luet had felt cold upon having that confessed to him, and that horrible feeling hadn't gone away.

"The leader's name was T'jank'e if that means anything, that's what Strangya said-"

The leading official's head whipped up from the computer screen embedded into the table he had been looking at. "What?" He asked sharply. "What was the name?"

"T'jank'e?"

No one moved on the dais. Zeke looked like a ghost had confronted him. When no one appeared like they were going to say anything, A'luet did.

"Is that a problem?"

"T'jank'e is dead."

A'luet made a face, "I know that."

"You do not understand child," the female spoke up, her eyes an unusual gold. "B'ziek T'jank'e was executed a hundred years ago…by us."

Until that moment, A'luet hadn't noticed the arbitrator standing in the corner, having been present for the entire hearing. He too was staring at A'luet like he was deciding if the D'jilk was a liar or for real. Next he roamed his attention to his family still in the shadows. They were like the rest of them, frozen.

"I'm sure there's plenty of yautja out there with the same nam-" A'luet's retort died in his throat as the leader savagely threw a holographic life-size picture up in front of him from his dais computer.

"Well?" He snapped, impatient.

"That's…him."

The leader pounded the screen, the hologram winking out of sight. "I'm cutting this meeting short. All adjourned. We'll reconvene when I pick a time and date. Zeke and Kainde." The two yautja paused. "Come with me." They didn't miss the barely contained rage-filled threat.

When Kainde didn't move to acknowledge the tribunal official's command, Zeke did, inclining his head. "Absolutely." And earned an irritated growl from his friend.

"A'luet." A soft voice murmured his name near his ear. Issa had come forward with both J'mper and An'nu holding back slightly. "Come. You and Paya need rest and food."

Food sounded great and bed sounded even better.


	19. Chapter 19

His eyes slowly opened, the room dark. Instinctively he knew he should think about getting up but he stayed where he was. He felt like it had been forever since he had slept even though he had only missed a week's worth of sleep. _Missed too much in my frickin' opinion. _

A slight noise made him pause in his decision on whether to get up, finally shifting and groaning his frustrations softly, he craned his neck to see the source. Paya was in a cot across the room, quietly snoring. A'luet shook his head before burying his face into the pillow, then he rolled his shoulders, each ligament cracked and slowly he sat up.

…..

Paya's rippled reflection found him in the backyard two hours later, sitting on the bottom of the seasonal pool, holding his breath for as long as he could. He kept himself sitting for a few more seconds and then let himself slowly rise to the surface.

"Up and about."

A'luet leaned back so he could float. "Yeah. They told me to keep quiet for a few days."

"-And you didn't listen, naturally."

A'luet shot his cousin a grin. "Obviously." Then he sobered as Paya drifted near the fence with a wistful expression. "What's wrong?"

Paya gave a half shrug. "Do you think its wrong…. to feel?"

A'luet didn't know what to say at first. "And here I thought I was the only one."

The yautja glanced over at him. "It's a weakness you know, can get you killed. Make you choose wrong in life or death situations." He came by the pool again, sitting tentatively on the edge.

"I'm still here." A'luet finally answered. "I know I'm looked at as weird. I don't know why I am the way I am. Like what your dad said, yautja only care about the hunt. The Tribunal was right you know."

Paya narrowed his eyes. "About what?" He asked a little too sharply.

"I did try my damnedest to keep you and Ph'in alive. Every decision I made I analyzed how it would affect you two."

Paya rolled his eyes. "If you're guilty of that then so am I. Who gives a shit? What can they do about it other than accuse us and bitch? Nothing."

"I guess."

"Awake I see." Issa appeared from the house.

"Barely."

She snorted. "Yeah you look it." She flicked her dreads over her shoulder. "Your father and I are running an errand. J'mper is with Kainde. Can we trust the both of you to be home alone?"

A'luet made a face. "Really Issa? We're not pups."

Her eyes lit up in a flash of amusement before dying out into a somewhat worried/guarded expression. A'luet picked up on it immediately.

"Are you okay?"

Her posture changed in an instant. "Yeah, why?"

_She's always so good at hiding emotions. I can't tell if she's telling the truth or not. _He shrugged. "You looked-upset."

"Did I?" Her tone was bored. "Huh."

"Issa."

An'nu had appeared, sticking to the shadows. _Why isn't he coming closer?_

Issa took a breath and went to him. "We'll be back."

The two young bloods nodded.

The moment A'luet was sure the adults were gone he pulled himself out of the water.

"Where are you going?"

"Following them," A'luet shook the water off his dreads.

"Why?"

"I think I know where they are going and I want to know why."

Paya followed him and then stopped short. "My father."

A'luet nodded.

The older yautja looked unsure. "I don't think we should A'luet."

Slinging his pack over his head, A'luet turned to him. "They didn't tell us to stay here. Besides-" He tossed Paya's pack to him. "Are they really going to yell at us after worrying for a week about whether or not we were dead?"

"Whether or not you were dead," Paya reiterated.

A'luet shrugged. "Same thing. Come on."

…

Against Paya's better judgment he found himself next to his cousin, outside the brig; a formidable building that was open concept, exposing its prisoners to the elements. Yautja had zero use for criminals and treated them accordingly.

"And how the hell do you suppose we get close enough without anyone seeing us?" He hissed.

A'luet had been thinking the same thing. They couldn't camouflage, the guards' more technologically advanced bio-masks could see through the invisibility. Then an idea came to him.

A large ancient tree had twisted and curved itself around more than half the building, entwining both its lower branches and roots into the walls and foundation. The local legend went that many times the yautja had tried killing it so renovations and additions could be made. Nothing killed the tree. Eventually the Ancients quit trying, growing weary of wasting time arguing about what new method may possibly remove it short of blowing it up. They instead resigned themselves to building out in other directions, encroaching dangerously into the slums.

A'luet crept across one of the lower branches, careful to remain silent as he searched below for An'nu and Issa. He finally found them on the far east side. He snapped his fingers at Paya to get his attention and then gestured. Clearly reluctant, Paya nodded and began to scale the tree higher and make his way around the gigantic trunk so he could be closer, A'luet followed.

As close as he dared to be, A'luet found a niche in one of the more gnarled branches, satisfied that he could hear everything perfectly below. Paya settled next to him.

**Agaj'ya de Thei-de**

**H'chak M-di**

(Realm of Death: Death Row)

(No Mercy)

Strangya didn't bother to acknowledge his visitors as they were led to his cell, he kept his eyes closed and attempted to mediate. _Fat fucking chance._ He couldn't believe what the D'jilk had told him on the ship. That Illeya was dead. In all his years, of all the screw-ups he had either done or might have done, this was by far the worst. He killed her. _I let it happen…. watched the fucking massacre from the god damn trees. Why did I not see her? Why hadn't I seen her? _He deserved death. He deserved what ever the Tribunal decided for him. He didn't know that he could live with himself after this.

The footsteps stopped and the door shut, sealing _them-him_ in the cell with him. Irritated he could no longer ignore his siblings he looked up.

For a long time no one spoke. Then Issa did. "You aren't going to say anything?"

Strangya took his time answering instead he studied his sister. She had changed in the time he had been gone. _For the better. She looks better. Healthier. And less pissed off. _He took a breath.

"Kind of hard when there's nothing to say."

The Issa he knew would have taken that response as an open invitation to start a verbal argument, but she didn't. She remained quiet. _Interesting. An attitude adjustment? An'nu certainly couldn't have managed to rein her in…. another male? _

When An'nu didn't add anything, she continued. "Zeke is doing what he-"

"Zeke needs to butt the fuck out of my business," Strangya snarled. "I'm an adult incase he's confused and forgot in his old age."

"What is your problem?" An'nu finally said.

"You. You both are my problem."

"Well that's unfortunate Strangya." Issa snapped. "I'd apologize for the inconvenience of us being related except I didn't give birth to you. Had I, I might have smothered you before you took your first breath."

He muttered something under his breath.

"Your former rank is what is saving you at the moment." Issa murmured, anger leaving her tone. "The Tribunal is more interested in why you went from a high potential Elite to a Bad Blood in one year."

Strangya avoided their gaze. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us." An'nu shot back. "There's a lot of things I can't believe at the moment and yet quite a few of them are turning out true."

The yautja finally fixed An'nu with a stare, unnerving him. Even growing up Strangya had had a knack for unnerving predators. It was probably his odd eye color, crystalline blue, almost white. A rare color.

"Ever wonder why your kid was so different from other kids, other yautja? Still is from my observation of what little I've seen of him."

A strange air came over his younger brother at the mention of his offspring. _The goddamn _

_Lou-dte Kalei__._ -_Went all maternal on me. _

"A'luet has nothing to do with this conversation." An'nu growled. "And until I deem otherwise you can drop him from your memory bank."

Strangya scoffed. "The D'jilk has everything to do with this conversation."

An'nu started to retort but Issa cut him off. "What then? Why?"

"The Payas." Strangya answered absently, trying to get his thoughts in order so he wouldn't have to repeat himself.

"What about them?"

"Every million years when the Thei-de and Centanu clusters align in the sky, a reincarnation happens-"

"Oh god's sakes." An'nu interrupted, he turned and banged on the door for the guard to come and let him out. "I'm not hearing this."

"You wanted to know." Strangya snapped. "Don't ask for something and then bitch about getting it."

"The guard was tapping his foot waiting for An'nu who had paused and was staring at his brother. "Are you in or out?"

Issa surveyed him blankly, a slight creep of annoyance rising in her face. _Annoyance of what? _An'nu grounded out frustratingly in his head. _She wants to hear the story…. she always was fascinated by the lore and fairytale shit…fucking damn it. _

"Hel-lo?"

"In." An'nu hissed. The guard shut the door, muttering to himself about being interrupted from his lunch. "Carry on," he prompted sarcastically and watched Strangya shoot him a withering look.

"-A reincarnation supposedly happens. It usually occurs when there is conflict. The reincarnation then deals with whatever the problem is… maybe it's war, a single threat, the possibilities go on. There are a few stories of past reincarnations, look them up if you're interested."

"Well in case you haven't noticed, Prime is just fine. _No conflicts_." An'nu crossed his arms.

"Yet." Strangya snipped.

"That's it?" Issa asked, cutting in to break up the brewing argument.

"No." Strangya stood, his joints popping. "A'luet wasn't orphaned by accident."

"What…?" An'nu found his vocal cords.

"You heard me."

"The fuck you talking about?"

He could tell he now had his baby brother's attention. "A'luet didn't dream up or hallucinate T'jank'e like the Tribunal is attempting to say. He's alive. He set those Kainde Amedha eggs in the jungle A'luet lived in on purpose. The kid wasn't meant to survive."

"What are you saying?" Issa sounded for the first time uneasy. "The eggs were set simply because of him? Of him being there?"

"Yes."

"Why? To what end?"

Strangya stared out the small window of the cell. "Every civilization eventually falls Issa. We are no different."

….

A'luet sat frozen, unable to comprehend what he had heard. It was almost too ludicrous to be believed. He couldn't listen anymore and dropped himself off the edge of the branch landing on the next one far below. Above him he could hear Paya trying to catch up. He let himself fall the last stretch before hitting the ground.

"A'luet!"

He looked skyward to locate Paya and was mentally plowed by the worst pain he had ever felt and it was ripping apart his skull. He shut his eyes and felt the bile forcing its way up his throat.

….

**Outer Than-guan Belt **

**Solar System of Yautja Prime**

**(1.9 light-years away)**

Kujhade chose his name at his adulthood ceremony for one simple reason. The pup keepers always said he would wind up in the lore of his people, therefore when he was old enough he chose a name he knew no one would forget. _Destroyer…. Destroyer of all inferior life. Has a nice ring to it._

Kujhade tapped a few commands into his chair's arm computer, bringing a decent sized hologram of Yautja Prime before him. The Yautja's home world would be a perfect spot to set up a new location for his people. The gods only knew how long it had been since the Hish stood on dirt that they could call their own. The Yautja were a dying breed anyway. They were weak, weak and pathetic with their codes and honor. Screw honor. The hunt should not be harnessed in any way. It was a ridiculous notion. What was the point of hunting if you constantly wore a muzzle? _Idiots._

Footsteps entered his room. "I hope you brought me good news T'jank'e."

The yautja came forward. "And I hope you have what you promised me. I can only play dead so many times."

Kujhade stretched his mandibles in amusement. "You will have your chance soon enough to break that D'jilk's legs. I must say however, this is twice now you've failed to kill this yautja and the pauk-de isn't even done being a teenager yet."

T'jank'e growled lowly. "The pauk-de had help…has help. The Gods favor him apparently and it's getting old."

Kujhade rolled his eyes. "Some bad blood you are, whining over a D'jilk." He felt the temperature seemingly drop as the insult registered in the yautja behind him. In a matter of seconds he had T'jank'e pinned to the wall of his command chamber before the predator had time to attack him. "I would advise against doing anything stupid s'yui-de. You will remember your place. There are more of us on this ship then there is of you. And quite frankly, I'm bigger than you." He dropped the yautja who hit the floor on his knees choking.

"You say the Gods favor this D'jilk." Kujhade went back to his chair as if nothing happened. "We'll see how they favor him when his planet burns around him."

**I do not own the rights to the species (Hish) They are the DH (Dark Horse) property and are the main antagonists in the Predator book Forever Midnight. My take on them will be slightly different than how they are portrayed elsewhere. I plan to model them more like the Super Predators. Happy Reading. **


	20. Chapter 20

He heard his name being called, echoing like he was in a tunnel; taking a shuddered breath he forced his eyes open. Paya was knelt next to him, shaking his shoulder and then his hearing returned with a pop.

"Get up A'luet! The guards are coming."

Dazed he sat up unsteadily and saw through blurred vision that two yautja were indeed coming towards them, their hands lightly touching their combi-sticks incase Paya and A'luet were criminals coming to spring the criminals. _Frickin' ridiculous…Great job A'luet pass out right in front of a prison compound and draw the attention of the entire fucking area. _

A'luet managed to make himself stand and straightened just as the taller of the two yautja reached them.

"What are you doing here? This is a restricted area unless given permission by the Elders."

"I'm sorry, we'll go." A'luet coughed wetly, feeling the bile that hadn't spewed out, sitting heavily in his throat.

The guard stared hard at him, his mask a formidable piece of metal, decorated with long claw scars and pockmarks from past battles. "Aren't you An'nu's kid?"

A'luet had half turned away to leave but paused. He didn't answer right away, not knowing what his response would bring. Did this yautja hate An'nu or like him? An'nu didn't have many enemies, a surprising quality about him, but still you had to be careful.

"Cetanu, I haven't seen you in what, eight years?"

A'luet still kept quiet but was furiously clawing through his memory to figure out who the yautja was.

The yautja glanced at his partner and then trilled in amusement. "Don't give yourself an aneurysm." He pulled the cords connected to his helmet and pulled it off.

A'luet scoffed to himself. "Kulak."

"God, I find you, kill your U'darahje for you and you still forget me."

"Must not be that memorable." The partner laughed, the voice feminine.

"You two got stationed here together?" A'luet recognized the second voice instantly. Neferi.

The female took her own mask off, her petite face lit in her own amusement. "Well we are a package. We work far too well together." Her purple irises then landed on something to the far right, by the tree. "Were you sick?"

Much to his annoyance he felt his face color in embarrassment, but he tried in vainly to remain cool on the matter. "Uh…" He couldn't find a suitable lie to tell and so settled reluctantly for the truth. "Yeah. I'm fine now though."

"It'll evaporate in like five minutes. Gods knows it's hot enough" Kulak glanced behind him, probably looking for superiors who might be wondering what they were doing talking to civilians. "Well we need to go back. Take care of yourself and…you too." He nodded to Paya.

"He's my cousin, Paya."

Kulak paused, his gaze landing on Paya instantly. Then he took a step forward. "T'Jierk Paya?"

The yautja looked away uncomfortable by the intense stare. He nodded.

"Strangya's son." Neferi murmured.

The two guards looked at each other, their expressions saying they now understood why the two were there.

"Don't tell my dad we were here. He and Issa are inside."

Kulak considered him quietly and then gave a jerked nod. "Only if he doesn't ask me. If he asks me straight out, I'm not going to lie."

A'luet nodded. "Fair enough." He jabbed Paya in the arm. "Let's go."

…..

When they were far enough away, Paya lost no time asking what A'luet's problem had been. A'luet took a left instead of right to go home.

"Where are we going?"

"Up." A'luet stopped at the wall of a sheer cliff. "Come." He dug his claws into the stone and hauled himself up, carefully and skillfully climbing up the side of the mini mountain. After a few moments he heard Paya below him, following.

Eventually he reached the top, pulling himself up onto the plateau and stood, his chest muscles aching from the exertion.

"Somehow I don't think that was part of the keep-yourself-quiet-for-a-few-days medical directions."

A'luet dismissed his cousin's remark with a wave of his hand and pushed himself to stand up straighter. Then he began to speak. He told Paya of what he had seen. The Hish known as Kujhade, T'jank'e who was still alive. The ships that were heading towards Prime.

Paya was staring at him, wary now. "Are you psychic?

A'luet scoffed, regretting it when his muscles twinged again. "No. I'm not psychic."

Paya didn't look convinced. "My mother was…something else. I never understood her. She's dead now. Suicide."

The revelation Paya was sharing with almost no emotion in his voice unnerved A'luet a little. "Why are you telling me this?"

"She was psychic." Paya snapped. "It's rare, extremely rare. So unusual the Elders attribute it to the Gods." The yautja fell silent for so long A'luet thought he was done. "She killed herself, the visions plagued her so bad she went crazy. That's why my name is Paya, she had this notion I was connected to the stars somehow. And it's why I left. She used to trap me in caves, push huge boulders over the entrance so I couldn't get out; all the while I could hear her screaming at things that weren't there but were supposedly coming for me. It would go on for hours."

Paya studied him.

"I'm not sticking around if you are. I'm sorry but I can't…" He trailed off. "I just can't do it again."

"I'm not psychic." A'luet repeated. "It was probably a hallucination or something…a dream I don't know."

Paya didn't relax. "I hope not. For everyone's sake, including yours."

His cousin's words chilled him.

…

**Later**

**Nighttime**

Surprisingly the grass was soft and slightly fluffy, a nice change to the grass around his dwelling where the vegetation was stiff, scratchy and sharp. Issa chose to cultivate such plants incase 'an idiot decided to break and enter, they'd cut the shit out of themselves first.' A'luet remembered An'nu's expression at her reasoning.

"Three."

He snapped out of his wandering thoughts. "Huh?"

K'eira rolled her eyes and smiled. "Third comet."

"Oh…" He settled again, staring up at the illuminated sky, planets dotting the cosmic landscape above their heads in different sizes, some so close they took up their own corner of the sky and others smaller.

K'eira laid her head down and ran her hand gently over the flecked scars on his abdomen of when the Kainde Amedha's blood had sprayed on him. "How much trouble do you think we'd get in if we were caught here?"

A'luet ran the figures in his head. "Depends on who caught us. Flagah'er? We'd be in deep shit. But Rig'r, none."

"Rig'r's deaf." K'eira laughed.

"Exactly."

The two laughed.

"Nothing like having a new young blood break into a reservoir."

A'luet shrugged. "I like their grass and you followed me so you are just as guilty."

K'eira snorted. "That would be your defense to getting us out of trouble?"

"Nah. My defense to getting us out of trouble would be getting the hell out of here ASAP."

She was quiet for a moment and then rolled on top of him.

He felt a rush of emotions. "I don't know-"

She shushed him and leaned down, rubbing her mandibles down the side of his face. "You don't even have to worry about me throwing you in the lake since I'm smaller than you." She whispered teasingly near his ear.

"I'm pretty sure I could handle it if you did."

She drew back, teasing him. "I bet."

He relaxed before flipping her over so he was on top of her. She let out a surprised squeak before laughing.

The night was going to be long, and he was going to make sure they both enjoyed it.

….

**Next morning**

The ground shook like a giant had grabbed the planet and gave it a powerful kick. K'eira was first to wake up and felt her head resting on A'luet's arm. She jumped to her feet, completely awake and saw a long-range missile shoot out of seemingly thin air high above them. The trajectory shot straight for the middle of Prime's largest village, K'eira and A'luet's home. A huge explosion lit up the early morning sky. Shock gripped her and for a moment she couldn't move. Then reason returned to her.

"A'luet get up!" She screamed, shaking him though she didn't have to wake him up, the explosion had done it for her.

He stumbled to his feet, staring at the remnants of the large black cloud being encircled by a growing fire. "Let's go." He grabbed her hand and took off out of the reservoir.

…

**T'Jierk dwelling**

Issa awoke groggily her head on J'mper's chest, having thought she heard engines rumbling close by.

"J….J'mper." She shook him. He stirred, waking enough to hear her.

"Mm?"

"Do you hear that?"

She saw his eyes slowly open and then he focused on her, listening.

'Engines.'

She leaned across him to grab his gauntlet and look at the time. "No ships go out or in this early, the village's loading docks still have another hour." She sat up and stood, pulling her dreads out of her face as she went to the window.

The engines were getting closer, the powerful motors beginning to shake the house a little. She turned to J'mper who had gotten out of bed and was pulling his armor on. He closed his gauntlet around his wrist.

'Can you see anything?' He signed.

She shook her head, a thin layer of concern starting to creep into her mind. He sighed.

'Come.' He took her hand, handing her own gauntlet to her and pulled her out of the room.

An'nu met them in the main room. "What the hell is that?"

"We don't know." Issa answered, noticing Paya coming out of the room he and A'luet shared. "Is A'luet up?"

Paya looked away sheepish. "He's not here."

The three adults stared at him.

"What?" An'nu finally managed.

"He left last night…I think he's with K'eira."

"Damn it." Issa hissed not mad, her concern was written all over her face.

Then all at once the rumbling stopped and dead silence ensued, falling over the village like a cloak of deafness had been thrown over the homes and vendor buildings.

…

Kainde was in the middle of pouring himself a protein drink when he heard the rumbling begin. He felt a thread of fright flicker through Shara who stood with him. His artificial eyes not installed, he was blind. But his blindness was made up with his exceptional hearing. The Gods had favored him and given him back something in exchange for what he had lost.

"It's a Mother-ship." He murmured.

"What does that mean?" Shara asked urgently.

"Where are my eyes?"

He heard her move away and disappear into a room and then return to him. She handed him the robotic balls and watched as he carefully pushed them into place. Blinking a few times he waited for the eyes to readjust and then he could see, the retinas highlighting various things in the room identifying them. Then he moved outside, Shara following closely.

A single ship had entered the atmosphere, larger than any ship he had seen in his lifetime. The only good thing he could see was that it was still a few miles up in the air, though due to its size it looked a lot closer. Then his eyes highlighted something and zoomed in automatically on it, identifying it. "Son of a bitch."

"What?" Shara was staring at him. She paused when the rumbling stopped and silence enveloped the air.

He didn't get a chance to answer.

…

**Agaj'ya de Thei-de**

**H'chak M-di**

(Realm of Death: Death Row)

(No Mercy)

Strangya coughed, choking on the thick dust and debris that clogged the air. He couldn't focus; his eyesight was swimming in and out. He dragged himself to a wall that had remained somewhat undamaged and leaned against it. Putting his hand to his chest, he pulled it away and saw green phosphorous blood shining on his palm.

"Fuck!" He growled.

Ignoring the pain he glanced down the best he could and saw shrapnel had peppered his left side and right leg.

Trying to remain calm he looked around and saw his cell's invincible door had turned out to be not so invincible as it hadn't stood up to the blast that well. He grabbed onto a jagged piece of the wall and pulled himself up, growling at the pain. He stumbled to the door and limped towards the damaged end. Thankfully all the T'Jierk males were built leaner than most yautja, so if Strangya hadn't been injured, climbing out of his cell would have been a piece of cake.

He lost his grip on the wall as he slid through the blown piece of the door and fell out hard on the floor. Slowly he climbed to his feet and began to find his way out. It was easy to leave Agaj'ya de Thei-de, the guard at the end of the hallway had been scattered, as this end of the prison had taken most of the blast. Strangya tried the best he could to tiptoe around the guard so not to tread on him. His mask caught his attention, locked in a laser box built to give anyone who tried to steal from it a powerful heart stopping shock.

"C'jit" He needed it and he wasn't leaving without it. His answer to his problem came, though even he had to admit it was a gruesome solution. He picked up one of the guard's severed arms and tried to stay emotionally detached from the grisly task. Taking a pained breath he shoved the arm into the box and smacked the mask out. The shock came but most of the deadly current was absorbed into the deceased's arm, shocking Strangya only a little.

He groaned, bending for the mask and then went to work prying open the possessions locker and locating the rest of his equipment.

When he felt the mask activate on his face and his plasma caster realign itself with his gauntlet he started to camouflage but halted when two guards ran into the hallway. The taller one halted, staring at him and then the mangled corpse by his feet. He turned his caster on and pointed it at Strangya.

"Don't move." The mechanical voice issued behind the mask as he set his three laser points on Strangya's chest.

"Don't you think we have bigger problems than you catching me?" Strangya demanded, his own voice slightly weak from the trauma to his chest.

The guard hesitated and after a tense few seconds, lowered his caster. He seemed to zero in on the Yautja's injuries.

"You gonna live?"

"I've had worse." Strangya decided to be brave and pass the two. Soon he heard them following him.


	21. Chapter 21

The fire had spread by the time A'luet and K'eira made it to the entrance of the village. All around there was chaos as yautja pulled the wreckage off of the dwellings of the older yautja. Some of the Elders had appeared, the villagers grew calmer at the sight of them.

"What is going on here?!" The tribunal leader who had accused A'luet of cheating arrived.

"It was an explosion," a warrior kicked aside part of a broken beam. "Someone fired on us."

Several yautja voiced their concerns as well.

"Kainde." K'eira whispered in A'luet's ear. "I have to see if Kainde is okay." She turned and headed down an alleyway, closer to the blast zone. A'luet gladly followed her, not only to avoid the aggressive yautja but he wanted to make sure Kainde was okay too.

…..

The Elder's house had largely collapsed. A'luet felt the breath knocked out of him upon seeing it.

"Kainde!" K'eira tried to run forward but A'luet grabbed her, holding her back as a supporting wall buckled and slammed heavily into the ground.

"Stop. K'eira. Stop. We'll search for him." She shook against him and then pulled herself together and nodded.

He moved towards the rubble slowly, wary of the brittle structure. K'eira followed him. "Kainde?" He called and coughed on the dust that blanketed the air. "Stay here."

"But-"

"K'eira! I said stay here. I don't want you to get hurt."

She slowed her gait and then stopped walking with him, waiting as he inched his way as far as he could into the house. Nothing had survived. He prayed Kainde was alive. Once he resigned himself to the fact that there was no one in what was left of the house, he hoped they'd find the Elder outside. He returned to K'eira whose face grew crestfallen at him returning alone. He took her hand silently and pulled her towards the back of the house and was stopped short by the tip of a combi-stick pointed at his throat. The yautja switched off his camouflage.

"P'sy."

The scarred yautja observed him coolly. "He's not in there?" He rasped.

A'luet took half a step back so the combi- stick wasn't pricking him. "No."

P'sy deactivated his stick and sheathed it on his back. "The backyard." He didn't wait for them as he disappeared around the side of a lucky wall that wasn't damaged.

It didn't take A'luet long to catch up to the Elder. P'sy had froze half way across the yard, staring at something near one of the rear entrances of the house.

"P'sy?" A'luet felt his insides grow cold as he drew closer. K'eira's grip on his hand turned vice like.

His first feeling was relief when he saw Kainde was okay, but he was hunched over a body, holding them and not just anyone.

"Shara." K'eira whimpered.

A hole had blasted through the female's chest, the injury looked like it may have killed her instantly.

"She died instantly." Kainde's murmur was void of emotion, confirming A'luet's initial thought.

P'sy was first to speak. "Kainde. We have to leave. There's nothing that can be done for her." An expression A'luet couldn't read passed in the Elder's face. Then he understood it. Pain.

"I can't leave her. They will…do things to her."

"I know." P'sy pulled a case out of his pack and opened it, yanking a blue vial loose. Kainde's artificial eyes swiveled to survey the neon blue liquid. "It's the only way Brother. She will remain whole in memory this way."

A'luet hadn't understood anything that had been said. Who would do things to her? And how was the blue liquid going to let her remain whole? It was designed to disintegrate matter.

Kainde gave a jerked nod and gently laid the dead yautja down. Despite their fakeness, his eyes steeled over as P'sy lowered himself on his haunches by his friend and slowly poured the liquid over Shara. Where it hit her, she began to dissolve immediately. Within seconds she was gone. The sorrowful emotion A'luet wasn't used to associating with his teacher died and was replaced with blankness and then a barely contained rage. Kainde rose to his full height, P'sy along side him and glanced at A'luet.

"Go to your family A'luet. Take K'eira with you."

A'luet stayed where he was. "Where are you going?"

Kainde put his mask on and then pulled his combi-stick off his back. "I have a score to settle." He turned away, P'sy following him.

"It's the Hish isn't it?" For reasons he couldn't explain, he was desperate to not let them leave his sight.

The two Elders stopped in their tracks. "How does he know?" P'sy whispered in Kainde's ear, unaware A'luet had drawn close enough to hear him. "He's too young to know who they are."

Kainde's masked face turned to face the young predator. "What do you know of them?"

A'luet gave a half defeated shrug. "I don't know… Kujhade leads a legion of them-"

P'sy clicked in surprise, he too turned to survey A'luet. "How do you know that name?" He asked, stunned.

"I don't-"

"Don't say you don't know!" The yautja grew enraged. "You spoke the name boy! How do you know the name?"

"P'sy!" Kainde snapped, blocking A'luet from view. "Enough. A'luet is not the enemy, stay your temper for _them._"

"I saw him."

The two Elders and K'eira looked at him.

"You saw him." P'sy repeated, pushing past Kainde. "How?"

"In my head."

P'sy's scarred mask stared him down for several long seconds. "A vision?" He asked, calmer.

"No."

"No?" P'sy cocked his head. "Then how would you describe it boy?" The yautja studied him again. "Did you see this?"

A'luet glanced up, confused at the question.

"Did you see _this_?" The Yautja jabbed a finger in the direction of the smoke.

Kainde grabbed P'sy shoulder. "Stop." He wasn't looking at his friend; instead he was staring behind K'eira and A'luet.

"Osh'da." J'mper slurred, but still managed to keep the words ordered enough to be understood.

Issa seized A'luet. "If you ever leave the house again and don't tell us I'll will hunt you down and you won't like the consequences, you understand me?"

"Yeah." A'luet was taken back by her abrasive attitude. Instead of letting him go like he thought she would, she yanked him into her for a hug.

"You scared us."

He awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder blade and was mentally hit with a vision.

_A large predator that could only be Kujhade, the Hish ship commander, stood over a dead body. Glancing down, numb, A'luet saw it was J'mper. Nothing made sense to him. The colors were too bright, the contrast off and the shapes of everything around him too warped. And J'mper, dead on the ground made the least sense. _

_ "NO!" A grieved cry cut through the air and Issa appeared, green phosphorous blood that wasn't hers, streaked her dreads and body. Her chest heaved and she took off at a dead run for the Hish who had placed his foot disrespectfully on top of the corpse. She extended her combi-stick and yanked a Dah'nagara loose from a sheath attached to her leg, slicing the air with both. She would have removed the killer Hish's head from his shoulders if he hadn't easily stepped aside and then jammed his own weapon, some sword A'luet had never seen before directly into her lung through her back. Enraged she turned and tried to get the Hish again and succeeded, carving a layer of skin off his shoulder and collarbone. The Hish glanced up, his expression saying he knew the fight would be too equal on both sides. Then his caster came up and a hole blasted through Issa's throat, killing her. She fell, her body twitching in its death throes and then she went still, her hand beginning to stiffen by the hand of her dead mate. _

A'luet jerked back, releasing her and took a few steps away. Confused, he looked around and saw his family standing around him, watching him cautiously. Slowly he looked to the west and saw the black smoke that had thinned out but was still rising. _The village. Bombed. We were attacked. The Hish. Dead. The Hish. Kujhade. _

"A'luet." Issa grasped his arm and gave him a shake. "Can you hear me?"

He focused on Paya who had kept the most distance between them. The yautja's features told A'luet that he knew exactly what had happened.

_"She was psychic." Paya snapped. "It's rare, extremely rare. So unusual the Elders attribute it to the Gods." The yautja fell silent for so long A'luet thought he was done. "She killed herself, the visions plagued her so bad she went crazy. That's why my name is Paya, she had this notion I was connected to the stars somehow. And it's why I left. She used to trap me in caves, push huge boulders over the entrance so I couldn't get out; all the while I could hear her screaming at things that weren't there but were supposedly coming for me. It would go on for hours." _

_ Paya studied him. _

_ "I'm not sticking around if you are. I'm sorry but I can't…" He trailed off. "I just can't do it again." _

"It's like he's not home." Issa's voice cut through his disjointed thoughts. "A'LUET ANSWER ME."

"I hear you." He finally remembered the words to speak.

She was staring at him and then she glanced at his father before returning her gaze to him.

Feet hit the ground behind them. Reacting only, Kainde swung around, his combi-stick hitting in midair against another.

"Might want to watch where you wield that thing old man." Strangya appeared with two others in tow.

"And you may want to watch who you sneak up on, especially during a time of crisis." Kainde growled.

Strangya snorted and then put his hands up to show 'no harm' and deactivated his stick. The yautja's masked face tilted towards A'luet and then he came towards him.

"He's psychic An'nu."

"I am not!" A'luet snarled.

Strangya ignored him. "That's why T'jank'e put those eggs in his jungle eight years ago. To kill him because the Hish found out about the reincarnation prophecy and they knew if it came true, he'd be a threat to them."

"I'm not-"

"Shut it!" Strangya snapped, rounding on him. "You are and there's no denying it so shut your trap. The Hish after you." He jabbed violently towards the smoking village. "And they just bombed your home, attacked another village to get you." Strangya half circled him. "You are meant to lead this shit hole of a planet against them. They are coming here to colonize and they are planning on killing us off to do it. What did you see?"

The demand didn't make sense to him. A lot of things weren't making sense.

"What?"

"Just now, what did you see?"

"I'm not telling you shit!" A'luet snarled.

Strangya's powerful hand grabbed him by the throat.

"Strangya." An'nu warned.

His uncle ignored his father. "I'm asking you…one more time…nicely."

A'luet tried to jerk out of the yautja's fingers but every time he did, the grip grew stronger. He couldn't look at Issa or J'mper.

"They died."

"Who?" Strangya pressed lowly.

Even with the yautja's face masked, A'luet couldn't look at him either. "J'mper and Issa."

Astonishment swept across the face of both mates and the group as the revelation sank in. Strangya let go of him.

"The Gods gave you this…gift to help us." He explained, calmer. "It is the Balance telling you what it wants and what it doesn't want is _them_ taking over."

"We'll be here too." Paya had come closer. "Having us with you will minimize the negative symptoms."

The two who had arrived with Strangya came forward. "What are we going to do about them being in our atmosphere?" Kulak asked, disconnecting his mask. "They're here and we can't hide from them."

Kainde's eyes danced upwards. "They're enjoying this." He rumbled. "They won't attack again today or even tomorrow. They are waiting to see what our response is going to be."

"Then let's go to the Elders, mass together and blow the fuckers out of the sky."

P'sy 'tsked.' "With what? Tell you what, you find the weapon on this planet to shoot that ship down and I'll be the one to pull the trigger."

"They just uncloaked." Neferi murmured.

Everyone turned to see what she meant and saw indeed the Hish ship was now clearly visible, squatting in their atmosphere.

P'sy shoved his own combi-stick back into its casing on his back. "My home wasn't damaged. We can call the others once we are there."

…

The Tribunal leader who had accused him of cheating saw him first on P'sy's porch and the predator didn't bother hiding a disgusted growl.

"Old fart." Paya hissed, timing his words just right as the leader entered the dwelling and couldn't come back to confront him because of the other elders filing in behind him. Zeke was last to enter and heard Paya's name-calling, he lightly kicked the young blood's chair on his way by.

"What? He is."

An'nu stepped half way out to survey the three younger predators. "Stay out here for now." Then he shut the door behind him.

Paya waited a moment and then stood. "Come on."

"What are you doing?" K'eira asked.

"I want to know what they are saying." He left the porch and waited for them. K'eira stood, uncertain. She paused when A'luet didn't move.

"A'luet?"

He looked up at her silently. "I don't want to know."

Paya climbed two of the stairs so he could see A'luet over the railing. "Come on A'luet. It's usually you who drags me into trouble. It's my turn."

A'luet took a breath and then stood, following his cousin robotically around the side of P'sy's home.

….

"What do you want P'sy? We've just been attacked. I don't have time to sit here and speak of the weather to any of you." There was a slight pause. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I think we have better things to worry about than you wasting time, demanding why Strangya is loose. Does it really matter?" Issa snapped. "Right here and now?"

"In his mind, yeah it does matter." A'luet heard Strangya sneer.

"You insolent-" There was a stomp of feet, as the leader must have stormed toward Strangya.

"Step off." Kainde snarled. "We are willing to fix this problem with or without you. And whether you care to admit it, Strangya's part of the solution."

"And what problem is that?"

"Are you numb?" Issa again. "Have you not seen the Hish insignia on the side of that ship? What do you think they are here for? Vacation?"

A'luet straightened as much as he dared near the window so he could see into the large room with the assembled adults. Issa was almost nose-to-nose with the leader. _Big surprise. _

"You're smart Dahl'K. The Hish don't share. Do you really think they're going to let us live in peace here with them?"

The leader's back was stiff as he glared at Issa who returned the favor.

"Fine." He growled. "What asinine plan do you have?"


	22. Chapter 22

"Shouldn't we be asking him that question?" Paya whispered.

"Shhh." It was then he realized one of the Elders still had their mask on and they were facing him. "C'jit…" He dropped down immediately. "Back to the porch, back to the porch." He gave his cousin a push.

"Why?"

"One of the Elders saw me."

Paya scoffed. "I doubt it."

"Move you idiot! He had his mask on."

"…Oh"

The three made it to the porch in time to have the door wrenched open. The Elder who had seen A'luet came out and stared silently at them. More awkward silence ensued. Finally Paya broke the silence.

"What do you need?"

Silence. "What I need is adolescents not eavesdropping."

"Okay then."

The yautja stared down at Paya and then growled lowly before turning to enter the house. The female Elder stopped him and glanced at them on the porch. "Come." She exchanged looks with her peer.

Feeling guilty, A'luet followed the two Elders into P'sy's home. The front hallway was lined with skulls of past kills. He recognized almost all of them except for the tiny round bleached heads with small teeth. He paused.

The yautja who had chastised them stopped with him, observing him. "What's wrong with you? You've never seen an Ooman skull before?"

Embarrassed he had been caught; he shrugged, trying to act cool about it. The Elder drifted towards him, studying the wall then him as he tried in vain to look everywhere but at the wall of heads. The Elder trilled and then gave him a none-to-gentle shove out of the hallway. He ended up next to J'mper and shot the Elder a glare who responded with a half challenging growl. A hand gripped his upper arm.

'Let it go.' J'mper quickly signed out of sight of the others. 'He's an asshole.'

Grudgingly A'luet listened and noticed An'nu staring unblinking at the Elder who also took note. The atmosphere changed in the room as the silent challenge was exchanged between the two.

"This is my home." P'sy said, stepping into the Elder's face. "There is not going to be a beat down in the middle of it. You got that?

The Elder scoffed. "The D'jilk is old enough to handle himself An'nu without you acting as Lou-dte Kalei and being all maternal."

An'nu barely moved as the insult sunk in. Then he took a deep breath. "You ought to be careful Gweith. If and when the conflict starts with the Hish, I may turn a blind eye if you need help."

Gweith breathed a laugh. "They say he is the 'chosen one', yet how many kills have you claimed?"

"What does it matter?" A'luet hissed.

"I asked you a question D'jilk."

He happened to glance at the Tribunal leader who was listening just as avidly as everyone else, however instead of the usual look of disgust, open interest replaced it.

He was stuck until he gave an answer and he refused to lie. "Technically three Kainde Amedha."

"And you're seventeen seasons…how odd. Been a little lazy if you ask me."

"Well I didn't ask you now did I?" He snapped.

Gweith opened his mouth but Zeke stopped him. "We aren't here Gweith to analyze A'luet's kill record. We have an enemy ship floating in our atmosphere that we need to figure out quick how to deal with before the others meaning the villagers, come knocking on T'sey-s's door."

"His kill record has everything to do with what happens between us and the Hish. Is he going hesitate because he suddenly gets a bullshit change of heart? It should have been Cetanu who came to live through him, at least the blood lust would have been there."

"Ell-osde pauk." A'luet turned and left the house. He heard An'nu let out a swear and then follow him.

"A'luet!"

He reached the porch and took a long jump off it, activating his camouflage as he ran knowing without his mask An'nu would be blind to seeing him.

…..

**Later**

The sun had long set. His bio-mask laid by his side, partially dismantled to stop the honing beacon from locating him. Even he had to admit, Gweith had a point. He didn't have the drive to kill things like a true yautja. The thrill of the hunt didn't thrill him. He hadn't told his Chiva mates, but when he killed the Kainde Amedha, he felt it die, the rage, the fear and ultimately the acceptance. That was why he didn't remove its head and even after when he took his turn to stand watch while Paya and Ph'in slept, he returned to the body and buried it. He didn't act like a yautja. And yet no one took the time to understand that he didn't like the feeling. He didn't want to be so drastically different. Being this different had consequences. Elders generally gave consent to males mating on Prime unless the warriors were on other planets, A'luet could kiss that privilege goodbye. On rare occasions, yautja were put on a list not to breed. He had no doubt his name was going end up on that list. The Elders would not want generation after generation of compassionate yautja floating around the universe.

He toyed with his gauntlet, flipping the cover open and shut several times. The option to self-destruct was there. An'nu had said that suicide was accepted only when there were no other avenues to turn to. A'luet felt like he was backed into a corner. If there was ever an accepted situation it was now.

He rocked, waves of emotions hitting him, emotions he could barely handle and understand. He blindly tapped the touch-sensitive screen of his gauntlet, just as he was getting ready to slide his finger across the screen to give the device permission to detonate, he felt a presence in the trees near him. He stumbled to his feet and activated his combi-stick. _My mother's combi-stick, not mine._ _The Hish? Maybe I'll just let them kill me. I'm whom they want. Maybe they'll leave after they kill me. Leave everyone alone. Die a damn martyr._

A light filtered through the trees to his right, he found it odd he could see it so clearly without his mask. A yautja appeared, a female. He relaxed, a little. Then more yautja appeared in the clearing, including one large black predator with a ring of skulls hanging from his neck.

"Calm yourself. We are not here to harm you."

The female's voice sounded so familiar and she looked familiar. She came close enough for him to be able to see every detail of her. Her eyes were round and soft. _Hazel._

"Ma'da?"

He deactivated his combi-stick.

"I share her body with her essence, yes." She cocked her head and then closed her eyes, took a breath and opened them.

"My A'luet."

"Am I dead? What is this?" He backed away, suddenly unnerved by his mother's figure in front of him.

"You are not dead." The black yautja came forward, towering over him. "Do you know who I am?" The yautja bent to his level.

A'luet studied him for a moment. "Cetanu."

The yautja glanced down at his gauntlet and took his arm, turning the self-destruct off. "There is more for you than death."

"I doubt that. I'm not accepted in case you haven't figured that out yet. There's nothing for me."

"Then you need to make yourself accepted. Show them you can lead."

"I don't want to lead!" He snapped. "I'm seventeen. I'm not leading a revolt against the Hish. It's asinine."

"Whether you want to or not, you have to. It's your destiny." The god replied, calmly.

"So I don't get a choice, _again_? My clan was killed; I'm orphaned at ten years old. I show up in the life of An'nu who I know holds a level of resentment towards me for changing his life from what it could have been. I've never been given a choice."

"An'nu loves you." The female A'luet could only identify as Illeya murmured. She drifted closer. "He doesn't regret you at all. I'm a god, I'd know."

He didn't entirely believe her. His relationship with his father was built on the predator's initial reluctant acknowledgment that he wouldn't be able to get rid of the D'jilk.

Cetanu sighed. "We wouldn't have chosen you if we didn't think you could do it."

"What is this? Are you really here? In front of me or am I hallucinating?"

A different yautja answered, this one slightly older. "Technically yes we are here, but only you can see us. Anyone else would see you talking to the air."

"Who am I?" He suddenly asked. The gods regarded him silently. He knew they understood the question. "Which one of you am I?"

"N'-ithya" Illeya answered behind him.

"Dirt?"

"Earth." She corrected. "The god of the balance of life. That is why you are compassionate. More yautja should strive to be like you than cold, heartless." Illeya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Return to your family A'luet." She started to fade and then she paused, turning back to him. "And tell Strangya I never blamed him…I love you."

Then he blinked and he was alone in the trees.

…

He didn't return right away to the others. In fact he waited a day. After he recovered from whatever the hell it was that he experienced in the clearing, he climbed one of the forest's taller trees and settled in the nook of one of its twisted branches. From his vantage point he could see the village. He stayed there, hardly slept through the night as he observed his home and then studied the ship squatting in the sky. As the suns set and the twilight was just giving way to the indigo black, exterior lights of the ship flickered on, looking almost like its own star.

Eventually he felt himself fade.

….

When he awoke, the suns were already above the high canyon mountains dotting the landscape around and in the village. He shifted and groaned at the stiffness. Then he realized he never tied himself to the branch, looking over the edge he was slightly impressed he didn't pitch out during his sleep. Growling to himself at the stiff pain from sleeping in one position for so long, he let his legs hang over the side. He was just resigning himself to the fact that he'd have to return home when he heard twigs snap above him. He sat still and watched as leaves fluttered past his face. He adverted his eyes downward to his mask sitting next to him.

A familiar whirring startled him. _Pauk! Plasma caster. _In quick succession he grabbed for his mask and shoved himself off the branch as the shot from the caster obliterated his resting spot. He caught a branch below and was just pressing his mask to his face when something incredibly hard and strong hit him, knocking him off his perch. He hit another branch wrong and flipped over the next, eventually slamming into the ground on his back. His past injuries from Strangya's bomb flared in mind-blowing agony. He coughed, trying to recover as quick as he could. He forced himself to his hands and knees and tried to locate his mask through swimming vision. Feet thudded on the ground nearby. Unable to find his mask, he grabbed his combi-stick and swung it in the direction he could hear his attacker coming from. One strong parry knocked the weapon out of his hands. The attacker became visible as the camouflage switched off. The force of the assault toppled A'luet backwards. The last thing he saw was the mask being pulled away from the face. Then black.


	23. Chapter 23

"A little stupid for you to be out here alone…dumbass yautja."

A'luet came to hearing the muttering of who ever tried to obliterate him with their caster. His combi-stick was just out of reach; fully aware he made a grab for it only to have a heavy foot come down on his fingers.

" I don't think so." The other foot kicked the spear further away.

He growled and yanked his hand free, getting to his feet. The predator in front of him was a head taller than him. _Hish._ He saw tattoos lined the arm of him. _Shit the Hish are big. _And _he_ was actually a female.

Silence deafened their surroundings as the Hish studied him. Then she half circled to his left, still intent on him.

"You'll never get a clearer shot."

She paused. "You're right." She agreed. Then she cleared her throat. "Lucky for you however, you're not to be touched."

He faced her. "On whose authority?"

She stared at him and then shrugged.

Her avoidance of his questions was getting to him and so was her predatory circling. "So what's the plan?" He took a few steps so he could see the ship through the trees. "Kill everyone on the planet and leave me until the end?"

She gave a half laugh. "If only it were that straight forward." She came to stand next to him, surveying the village. "The Honorable Kujhade wants you to deliver a message."

"Is that so? And what's that?" He asked sarcastically.

"That a revolt is futile. And that He will not hesitate to go door to door and slaughter all." Her electric blue eyes trained down on him. "And he will…trust me."

"Straight from the daughter's mouth, huh?"

She froze and then faced him as he picked up his mask. "Daughter? What makes you think I'm related to the Honorable?"

"I'm not a dumbass yautja."

She narrowed her eyes at hearing him echo her earlier insult. He took a chance and went for his spear. She didn't stop him. Finally she spoke.

"I suppose you're not quite the idiot I took you for." She sniffed and then walked away, activating her camouflage. "Expect me to see you real soon." Then she was gone.

A'luet stared after her even when he couldn't see her and then he glanced down and saw a large purple and black bruise forming across his ribs where he fucked himself up the first time. _Damn. _

….

As he entered the village, yautja paused in their work of rebuilding to stare at him. He tried to ignore it and soon he was thankfully away from them. Eventually his home came into view.

A wave of exhaustion hit him as he climbed the stairs to the porch. Then mustering the courage, he entered.

Issa was first to see him, her superior attention to detail zoomed in on the massive bruise across his chest. "What happened?" She demanded, concerned.

The others looked to see what she meant.

He gave a half shrug and regretted it. "Fell out of a tree."

"Fell out of a tree?" An'nu repeated; disbelief etched on his face. His eyes returned to the new injury.

"I'm fine. I walked all the way here from the forest."

Strangya snorted from his spot in the corner of the room. Kainde glanced at him and then focused on A'luet. "There's more to this story A'luet."

"No, there isn't," A'luet stated firmly. "I went to sleep in one of the largest trees, forgot to tie myself to it and fell out. End of story."

The yautja's artificial eyes danced in his sockets. Then the older yautja stepped forward, making An'nu move. "I never explained something to you." He came as close as he did the first day they met and he was deciding on whether to take him on as a student. "I'm blind without the prosthetics. However with the prosthetics, I can see up to 3x farther than the average yautja. I can identify objects and whether they are a threat…and I can pick up on a person's body language which right now, I can tell you are lying."

_Pauk._

Kainde stared at him, his eyes for once still.

"I fell out of a tree." A'luet said again and moved around his mentor.

"I bet you did." Kainde murmured lowly on his way by. The Elder watched the young predator disappear into his room, shutting the door.

"Paya."

The yautja glanced at his father. Strangya didn't say anything other than jerk his head in the direction of the room Paya shared with A'luet. Grudgingly he stood.

"He's not going to say anything to me."

"Then beat it out of him."

Paya shot Strangya a look before following his cousin.

….

The room was almost pitch black. Paya tripped over something, muttering a curse he saw A'luet's dark silhouette sitting with his back to him on the bed.

"You okay?" He moved around his cousin's bed and leaned against the wall in front of him.

"Yeah."

"You're not acting it."

"Paya. I appreciate the concern, but I want to be alone."

The predator watched him for several seconds. "I'm not leaving. You developed a bond to me almost immediately once you knew we were related. I didn't understand how or why you did it. But now I do. I've lived for years without a family. And because of you, I have a family unit to count on and I owe you for that. So I'm not leaving you."

"I was going to self-destruct." A'luet suddenly admitted.

Paya lost all words, trying to understand what A'luet was saying. "What are you talking about? Suicide?"

"Sure."

"Why?" Then in dreading tones, he asked. "What stopped you?"

"My mother."

"Your mother?"

A'luet began to rock a little. "Her essence transcended to one of the gods. So the god shares her cognition I guess."

"It was a vision…"

"No it was real." A'luet finally looked up at him.

Paya shook his head. "No. You forget, I watched my mother slip into madness."

"I asked them if it was real or not." A'luet argued. "They said to others I'd be talking to myself."

"What happened after that?" Paya changed the subject.

A'luet looked away. "The Hish are scouting. One tried to blow me away with her caster. That's what this is." He gestured to his bruises. "I fell out of the tree, like I said a million times."

"She? Usually it's just the males who scout. Their customs are so fucked up. The women are in a separate caste. Separate but equal which is bullshit."

"Not this one." A'luet stood painfully. "She's the daughter."

Paya had been pacing. He stopped in his tracks. "Daughter? Daughter of who?"

A'luet rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Who do you think? She's the offspring to the commander of that ship Paya. She had the tattoos to prove it running down her arm. She thought I was ignorant of their language."

Paya cast a look towards the covered window. "They're scouting…camouflaged?" He asked faintly. "The Elders have to be told. Technically they just started an invasion by physically coming down here."

"They haven't done anything yet."

Paya stared at him like he was nuts. "Are you defending them being here? The commander of that ship-Kujhade or whatever his name is…is not leaving. And more Hish will come like a rain that never ends."

"You didn't let me finish."

"Oh? Excuse me…go on."

A'luet grimaced as pain lashed his insides and ignored the sarcasm. "The Hish are banking that we will fire first. We need to make it so they fire first then…its fair game."

Paya nodded; A'luet didn't know if he was impressed by the idea or just blindly agreeing. "How do we do that?"

A'luet cracked his jaw. "I don't know yet. But we can't do this with just the yautja here. There's that city to the far west. They'll help too because once this place is leveled, they'll be next."

"Don't they hate us? Or not like us anyway…"

"Self-preservation tends to improve relationships."

"True. Well…sitting in a dark room isn't going to help you. So get your ass out there."

A'luet glared at him. "_Yes mother._"

Reluctantly he followed Paya out to where the adults were. The conversation ceased upon them entering.

A'luet took a breath. "A Hish fired at me while I was in the tree…I fell out when she tackled me."

"She?" Kainde asked.

A'luet nodded. "She told me to tell the Elders that Kujhade says revolt is useless. And that if we attempt to strike against them, he'll come personally and kill all of us."

"What a sissy bitch." Strangya grumbled. "If he wasn't such a bitch, he would have been the one telling you to relay that message. Not some female. Hiding up there on his throne, pointing fingers."

'If they are on the ground camouflaged, someone should have seen them and said something. It's been quiet. No reports.' J'mper looked back at A'luet. 'If they're on the ground, by our code they've invaded.'

"We aren't going to win against them." An'nu murmured. He glanced up as silence filled the room. "Maybe we'll drive them out yes, maybe they'll leave if we put up a hell of a struggle but a lot of lives are going sacrificed to make that possible."

"So we just roll over and let them take over Prime?" Issa asked, from her corner.

An'nu didn't answer her.

Paya nudged A'luet and jerked his head towards the adults. A'luet inwardly groaned.

"I think we need to get them to fire first. Then its fair game for us to retaliate."

"Why get them to fire first, why not just go up there and get rid of them?" A'luet had thought out of everyone Strangya would give him the most shit for his suggestion, but instead the yautja appeared fairly interested.

"Because of the Ancients floating around the universe. They'll commend our fighting ability but I have no doubt they'll brand us Bad Bloods for starting a war with other yautja for no apparent reason."

"They're Hish, not Yautja." Strangya corrected a little harsher than he probably planned.

"What's the difference other than size?" A'luet shot back. "They still look us and we look like them, but smaller. They're yautja and I don't give a shit what they call themselves…and neither will the Ancients."

Strangya looked away, disgruntled.

Kainde had been quiet, his artificial eyes landing on his son every once in a while. "We have a mole in the village, possibly more all over the planet."

"-The hell is a mole?" Strangya seemed to have forgotten his annoyance with A'luet's back talk and sat next to him.

Amusement flickered across the Elder's face. "You've been to the Ooman planet a few times and you don't know the terminology?"

"I didn't go there to get vocabulary lessons Kainde."

An'nu turned around in his spot so Strangya didn't see his mirth, though the older yautja suspected it and treated his younger brother with a glare.

"A mole is a traitor; someone who aids an enemy to go against their own brethren."

"That's going to be an awful lot of yautja then." Paya stared at Kainde. "Like the whole frickin' village."

"Not exactly." A'luet murmured. "If even possible they have more superior technology than we do. Their cloaking devices are probably more advanced so our mask wouldn't pick them up."

Kainde surveyed him silently. Then. "What was her name? The Hish who attacked you."

"I don't know. She didn't stick around long." A'luet trailed off. "But I do know she's Kujhade's daughter."

Dead silence.

"That's not possible." Kainde said immediately.

"She has tattoos down the side of her arm, it says so. The insignia of a high-ranking warrior, Kujhade."

Kainde shook his head.

"What?"

"Kujhade doesn't have any offspring. It's impossible. Did she appear to be older, younger, middle aged?"

"I don't know. Younger I guess. Not my age but not old."

"There's no way."

"Well apparently there is a way, because he ran into her." Strangya argued. "Why are you saying it's so highly improbable?"

Kainde avoided everyone's attention on him. Finally he half sighed, half growled. "Right before I lost my eyesight. I had a run-in with him." He trailed off.

"Kujhade?"

Kainde nodded mutely.

"Okay, go on…" Strangya pressed impatiently.

"He tried to kill me after I saved Shara from his slavery over her, so we fought each other…" He stopped again, reluctant to go any further with the story. "I saw an opening to retaliate, I took it and he moved in a direction I wasn't expecting."

A'luet glanced at everyone's face. The only one who didn't look confused was J'mper. _He knows about whatever Kainde's not telling us. _Then it hit him. Kainde being so adamant about the female Hish not being Kujhade's and then moving in the unanticipated direction the predator had expected. He gazed at his mentor in slight awe of the mistake and horror at the sheer thought. Issa understood second.

"My god…" She stared at Kainde, her too horrified. "You didn't."

"If he hadn't moved then I wouldn't have had to listen to him lament for the five minutes I sat deciding if I should take his head off."

Paya edged closer to A'luet; subconscious it appeared.

"Wow. That's all I have to say." Strangya looked impressed. "That's like one in an infinite chance."

"How did he not bleed out?" An'nu asked the ultimate question, which had been A'luet's question too.

"Cauterization…immediately."

"That sucks." Strangya snorted, trying to keep it together. _He would find this hilarious._

"Anyways." Kainde said forcefully to get the topic back on track. "Did she say anything else to you A'luet?"

He shook his head.

"I'll go to the Elders. Talk about the next step. Watch out who you talk to from now on." He turned and left.

Strangya waited until he was sure the Elder was out of earshot and then said, "remind me never to get in a fight with him."

J'mper rolled his eyes. 'He feels shame about it. It's considered a lowly move.'

"Not like he did it on purpose." Strangya stood, checking one of his almost healed leg injuries.

'And that's why he wasn't outcast, that and he saved a female from being a slave.'

"I see." Strangya agreed gravely, earning slap on the arm from Issa on her way by.

….

**Atmosphere of Yautja Prime**

**Three miles above ground **

**Village: Prime**

Kujhade heard the entrance to his control chamber hiss open and shut. He didn't turn to see who it was, he already knew.

"Honorable." Aine sank to the floor, her head bowed in respect.

Kujhade didn't acknowledge her verbally right away. In fact he sat and studied her. Unlike other Hish whose names were derived from their language; Kujhade chose the name Aine from the Ooman planet. Long ago when he had visited the planet for a hunt he heard someone, a female called such; once the female Hish before him appeared in his life as a pup, it seemed to fit.

She was too young to not remember Kujhade as the one who raised her. She had grown up, believing she was Hish, but smaller in physique for whatever reason. She wasn't. She was simply a regular sized female yautja. He had liked her mother's spirit, the way the woman fought until the end to protect her child, right before he beheaded her. The pup had disappeared into the jungle, but as children are so predictable, she didn't stray far from her mother. He had fantasies of spearing the D'jilk on the end of his double-ended combi-stick running through his head as he walked, searching for her. He found her hiding under a large leafy fern. She stared up at him that stink of child-like innocence wafting off her; it made him want to gag. As he sweet-talked her out of her hiding spot, a different plan formed. She was more useful alive then dead. He would train her to be Hish, and to be the ultimate weapon against her primitive race. Of course as the years passed he grew fond of her, most of the fondness came from her rising skills in brutality. It was as close to that stupid ritual the Oomans participated in, what was it? Dancing. She literally floated as she spun, jumped, side stepped, like the Ooman, and killed.

"What news do you have for me?" He stepped off his chair and drifted to the large open window that spanned half the room. He gazed down at Yautja Prime.

"There is not much to report my Honorable." She straightened. "The zabin-insects are busy fixing the damage done. The dto-jungle is thick and rich with life of all kinds…their water is clear. It is humid and there are deserts to the south, not far from the Prime village, there are caves as well, very deep underground. They'd be acceptable for planting drone hives for practice."

"Excellent." He faced her. "Nothing else?"

"No my Honorable." She said without hesitation.

"Well done. You are dismissed."

"Yes my Lord." She inclined her head before turning and leaving.

He took in a deep breath once the door closed behind her and turned his attention to the spacious world below him. Everything was falling into place.


	24. Chapter 24

The Hish ship hovered in their sky for two days. Every night right before the last glimmer of twilight, the lights would come on and flood every which direction. The third day after A'luet's encounter with the Hish female it moved, drifting slowly away from its week-long perch. A'luet watched it glide silently as the Elders argued behind him.

"We don't have any ships equipped for battle!" One predator snarled. "What planet have you been to in your 700-year career of hunting where you needed twin cannons to bring your prey down?"

The female Elder, Noni, rolled her eyes as the males continued to snip at each other. Only P'sy, Kainde and Zeke sat quietly and watched the rest of the Tribunal banter, P'sy with a little less patience.

A'luet watched as the Elder's scarred face twisted more than once in disgust. Finally the predator couldn't take it anymore.

"While you all engage in this stupid, time-wasting whining, we have an enemy ship moving. We don't know what the reason is for it to be moving after a week of stationary docking in our sky. For all we know the Hish could be moving into position to blow us to smithereens. _So I suggest_ you all stop bitching and start coming up with real solutions." P'sy's severe gaze flickered to A'luet. "The kid has had better ideas than all of you put together, aside from Noni."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Kainde muttered, loud enough for all to hear. Several insulted eyes landed on him.

"Shut up Kainde."

The old predator didn't get mad at the rudeness, instead his face grew amused.

"Well _since he seems to have better ideas than us_, let's ask him shall we?" Dahl'K said snidely, earning an angry growl from P'sy. "D'jilk! Get over here."

His back still to the Elders, A'luet made a face. Then he turned, knowing keeping his back to the Elders any longer would earn him an ass kicking.

"I have an assignment for you."

At the mention of assignment, Kainde perked up, wary.

"You are going to go find this Hish you supposedly had an encounter with and you are going to bring her to me."

Across from A'luet, Noni's pretty features blanched. "Dahl'K-"

The leader of the Tribunal raised a hand to silence her. "He's the 'Chosen One' is he not? If he's this mythical reincarnation, then this should be a 'walk in the park' as the Oomans say."

Noni wasn't silenced so easily. "A'luet being the 'Chosen One' has nothing to do with pitting him against a Hish, female or not. It's a suicide mission." She snapped.

For once the majority of the Tribunal seemed to agree with her.

"She's got almost a head and a half on me." A'luet finally said, his voice slightly faint. "I can't take her on and _bring_ _her_ to you."

"Should be easy." Dahl'K repeated. "You already met and even had a nice chat."

"She tried to obliterate me with her caster. That's hardly a nice chat."

Dahl'K was undeterred. "You bring her here or I sentence you to punishment for desertion, failing to assist your fellow kin in a time of trouble."

"You can't do that." Zeke interjected, beating Kainde to a rebuttal.

"Watch me." Dahl'K hissed. His hard gaze landed on A'luet again. "Get moving."

…..

"You don't have to do this." P'sy was right behind him with Zeke and Kainde not far, as he left the communal lodge. "Punishing you for desertion will never be agreed upon. It's asinine."

"Yet I won't ever hear the end of it," A'luet whorled around to face the Elders. He didn't realize until then P'sy was ever so slightly shorter than him, not enough to make a huge difference, as the Elder could still look him in the eye.

The predator shook his head. "I'm telling you don't. Kainde-tell him."

A'luet switched his attention to his mentor. Kainde's face was unreadable as he studied his long time friend and his student. Then his artificial eyes rotated away. "Gather what you need A'luet."

P'sy gave a start, his expression showing a hint of betrayal.

"I'm going with you."

"What?"

The old predator didn't answer him or repeat, "Hurry up. The day isn't getting any younger."

…..

"No."

"It's too late. I'm expected to go-" A'luet argued, his foot half way out the door before his father asked him where he was going with his gear.

"Dahl'K can kiss my fucking ass and yours." An'nu hissed. "I said no."

"He threatened me with punishment for desertion. What am I supposed to do?"

Strangya's whitish-blue eyes flickered above his head and out towards the village center. "Fucking asshole. Kid, it'll never pass vote."

"I'm not going to sit and listen to him slap me in the face with it if I don't. And you know he will. If I don't go and he holds it over my head, I'm leaving this planet and I won't be back."

"Then I'm com-"

"An'nu."

His father glanced silently down the stairs to where Kainde had materialized out of thin air. "I will be with him." Kainde looked at A'luet. "I wouldn't leave my student to deal with something like this alone." He climbed the stairs, pausing next to the young predator.

An'nu let out a frustrated growl. "Fine. Two days." He jabbed a finger at his son. "I mean it A'luet. If you don't find the bitch within 48 hours, you are back here before the high sun, understand me?"

"I-"

"_I_ will deal with Dahl'k after that and don't argue with me."

"Yes Osh'da." He grudgingly agreed.

An'nu finally moved out of his rigid stance. "What are you waiting for?" He asked when A'luet didn't move.

…..

A'luet studied the ground where he had met the female Hish. The tracks were faint due to a thunderstorm that had rolled through the night before, but he could just make out her footsteps leading through the dense brush. He started to follow them but Kainde's hand stopped him.

"It'll be too loud." He pointed to the trees. "Up."

Despite the predator's age and bulkier build, Kainde was surprisingly quiet as he moved through the trees. A'luet was close behind, careful to wait until his mentor was off the thick branches in front of him before he balanced on them. He finally paused and perched himself, poised perfectly still, his masked face pointed downward. A'luet followed his gaze and saw a Hish party camped in a small clearing below them.

'See her?' Kainde signed to A'luet, using J'mper's technique.

A'luet first made sure he wasn't going to pitch out of his tree before turning to study the group. 'No.'

Kainde's head jerk showed his annoyance at the situation. He jabbed a finger behind him, saying to move back a few paces. A'luet obeyed, barely a branch moving under him as he went. They stayed in the trees as night fell, still watching the group who hadn't left their camp aside from going to catch fish.

Kainde tossed A'luet a pouch of jerky, his attention hardly straying from staring at the Hish.

….

Cawing from a nearby bird made A'luet jolt, realizing he had fallen asleep. Kainde's low trill was amused as he watched his student glower at nothing particular. He had let A'luet sleep because the boy needed it.

'Sorry,' A'luet was signing.

'Don't apologize. I let you'

A'luet was about to ask if he had missed anything when rustling below them made him pause and barely believe his luck. The female Hish had appeared, the males jumping to attention. A'luet gripped his branch, not trusting himself to not fall out of the tree and give them away. The female was speaking.

"Anything?"

"No…" A Hish who appeared older than the others, his dreads beginning to show signs of greying, answered. "All is quiet."

"What did you tell him?" Another asked, his gaze brimming with respect and admiration.

She drifted by him. "What he wanted to hear." She glanced back at the group of five. "What he doesn't know is J'agannath and I planted explosives in those caves off to the west. He's loading them now with Kainde Amedha eggs as we speak-"

A'luet glanced at Kainde to see his reaction to what the woman was saying but the predator's attention was solely on her.

"-When the timing is right, I want those explosives detonated." She paused. "I know you are Hish and you can never imagine the gratitude I have for you to follow me as you have, all of you, me a mere Yautja."

A'luet almost uttered a shocked 'what?' but caught himself.

"I do not want him taking this world as his own. It is not right to invade a planet and kill or enslave its people. The Yautja have not done anything to deserve this future. I want him stopped."

"How are we going to do that?" A thin Hish asked, skeptically. "The Yautja aren't going to be receptive to us, especially after the bombing."

"That's why we reach out to them on their level-" She paused again and slowly turned in the direction of A'luet and Kainde. Her unmasked face scanned the clearing, not yet reaching above the ground. A'luet saw her hand brush her mask, obviously weighing the option to put it on and use its filters.

'They're going to see us.'

Kainde signed back one word. 'Good.' And dropped out of the tree much to A'luet's horror. Forcing himself to trust his teacher, he let go of his branch and free fell to the ground, landing lithely next to Kainde. Her head snapped around, staring dead straight at them, yet unable to see them due to their camouflage.

'Turn it off.'

A'luet stared at Kainde in apprehension as the predator slid his fingers over a command on his gauntlet. The camouflage started to die and Kainde became visible slowly. Taking a breath, A'luet did the same.

The female had a blank expression as she surveyed them. "I guess my original assessment of you D'jilk was wrong. A dumb ass yautja wouldn't have kept hidden for so long from me."

A'luet didn't answer and grew wary as she drew towards them. She halted a good distance from them, but close enough to have a normal voice level conversation.

"Who is your friend?" Her blue eyes strayed to Kainde, taking in his scars and no doubt calculating his age due to his greyed dreads and body conformation.

"My mentor."

"I see." She cocked her head. "Well I don't need to repeat myself I suppose since you were here the whole time I'm sure.

"We were." Kainde agreed, his tone off. "And I know that I don't believe it all."

"I expect you wouldn't." She closed the distance abruptly. "Let me ease your worry. I am not Hish, I found this out six years ago. Kujhade killed my mother and took me. Kept me in caged until I was a young adult. Taught me the most efficient ways to kill. He thinks I don't remember."

Kainde remained silent, his scarred mask watching her. "You have everything to gain." He finally said. "Why would you risk going against a well-connected Hish like Kujhade?"

"I already said." She retorted, annoyance creeping into her tone. "I am not Hish-"

"But they are." Kainde interrupted her.

Behind her, the male Hish straightened, shifted or growled lowly. She turned to them, shooting them a look, which instantly cowed them. "They are loyal to me, and me alone."

Kainde snorted. "I know loyalty, and the concept is bullshit. There are very few in your life who are truly loyal."

She was quiet for a moment, her serene irises sliding to A'luet. "Is your student not loyal to you? He is here, with you, confronting Hish in a dense jungle where we could all easily overpower you. It would be a struggle, but you would not survive."

"This isn't about him." The edge to his words told her to rethink her next argument.

She took a deep breath. "Your leader wants to see me then, does he not?"

"And how would you know that?"

She became amused.

"Why else would you be out here old man? Very few leaders send out a welcome committee to the enemy without expecting that enemy to be brought in."

Secretly, Kainde was impressed with the female's intellect she was extremely smart. "we are expected to bring you in. "

Silence.

"Well then…let's go."


	25. Chapter 25

A'luet couldn't quite figure out Dahl'k's expression as the Elder watched him and Kainde lead Aine and her followers to the steps of the center dais in the village. The other Elders definitely had a layer of respect as they watched the Hish come closer.

Kainde came to a stop at the base of the steps, a rare touch from him stopping A'luet with him.

_Disappointment._ A'luet finally settled on. _He's disappointed I succeeded. _

"State your business here." Dahl'K finally said, his voice ringing out over the silent crowd that had gathered to witness the arrival of the Hish party.

Aine studied the Elder for a moment. "My-_our_ business here is to help you."

"Really." Dahl'K tsked. "Some how I find that so very hard to believe."

"I don't care if you believe me or not. That's not my problem. Kujhade came here to enslave this planet, and those he does not enslave will die. It's within your best interest Elder to believe me and to let us help you. Without us, you will not stand a chance."

"We've done just fine without you Hish around." The Elder sneered. "So I suggest my silver tongued friend, that you take your little pillaging party with you, go back to your poisonous cancer of a leader and get the hell off this planet."

Noni, the female Elder, watched Aine clearly interested in her. "She is not telling lies Dahl'K. Give them a chance. If we turn them away and then the conflict gets worse, we will have turned away allies."

The majority of the Elders nodded their heads in agreement. One spoke up. Gweith.

"They'll feed information back to that bastard ship in the sky Honorable. You watch." His eyes landed on A'luet, challengingly.

_Do not trust him. _

A'luet gave a start, not knowing where the mental voice came from. It didn't give any indication as to whether it was female or male.

Next to him, Kainde noticed the sudden change in his student's presentation of himself. _He's showing vulnerability…why? _His killer gland no longer ruled his instincts, and so A'luet's change didn't affect him, but he knew damn well it would affect others.

_Trust me. _

The voice hadn't gone away.

"Is there a problem D'jilk?"

All at once his wooziness disappeared. He straightened himself and shook his head.

Dahl'K stared at the "chosen one" for a moment, and then his attention returned to Aine. "So I'm assuming you were planning on staying here…"

Aine's jeweled dreads clicked together, almost like music as she considered Dahl'K. "It'll upset your people further so no. We will camp in the woods."

"Good." Behind him, Noni rolled her eyes agitated. "Be gone-we'll send someone for you in the morn-"

"They can house with me." The female Elder interrupted.

Dahl'K half turned to her. "Excuse me?"

"It isn't up for debate." She snapped. "I live outside the village's perimeter, therefore there should be no problem since they _will not be in the village._"

"Denied." Dahl'K hissed.

She stepped into his face, automatically triggering his need for dominance. "I'm not asking you." Then she was down the stairs, passing A'luet and Kainde. "Come." She said to the Hish, who after hesitance, began to follow her.

A'luet happen to see Gweith shadowed behind the other Elders. The look he had as he watched Noni go made A'luet uneasy.

….

Normally A'luet liked his windows being open but he felt too exhausted to get his ass up and open them; so the room remained almost pitch black, glowing red from the sun beating against the thick shades.

K'eira shifted against him as they laid on his bed. "What are you thinking?"

A'luet didn't answer right away. He decided to blow her question off and hope she wouldn't notice. "Nothing."

She shifted again so she could look up at him. "I know you better than that A'luet."

_Damn it. She's too smart for her own good sometimes. _He stretched his mandibles, giving him time to come up with a good answer.

"I don't…trust some of the Elders." _One particular Elder._

Her petite features pinched in confusion. She sat up. Groaning inwardly, he straightened too, his dreads sliding over his shoulders.

"Did you see something."

He shook his head.

"Who?"

He glanced at her.

"Who do you mean?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do." She studied him. "You wouldn't have brought it up otherwise."

He shook his head slowly. "The less you know the better. The safer you are."

She was quiet for a few moments. "Gweith."

His stomach flipped at the name, yet he kept his mouth shut.

"I've never liked him. He finds any way he can to under-minding Kainde and P'sy, both of whom are many years older than he. And lately he's been-" She trailed off.

He glanced at her. "He what?"

He's more hostile; even towards Dahl'K, who is an asshole yes, but in the end his intentions are good. I don't think Gweith has Prime in his interest."

A'luet took a breath. "I think he is helping the Hish-Kujhade."

K'eira fell silent, her large eyes on his. "A'luet…that's a serious accusation. A traitor?"

"It's what you meant isn't it?" He said a little harsher than planned. "When you said you don't think he has Prime on his list of priorities."

Her eyes fell. "I guess it is what I meant. It's just…to accuse an Elder of such a thing-if you are wrong. You'll be executed."

"-And if I'm right. I get to kill the piece of shit." He sank down again. She followed suit, nudging close to him.

"Be careful…"

…..

**Next morning**

**HISH**

Aine found J'agannath outside the Elder's home, honing his combi-stick with a serrated tool.

The Hish was older than the others of their group, his dreads greying with age. Aine felt extremely lucky to have the veteran predator on her side. Once upon a time he had been one of three right-hand men for Kujhade, but J'agannath grew tired of the violence. As he aged his taste for blood surprisingly diminished while Kujhade's kill drive increased. It made for an unbalanced work relationship between the two. Then J'agannath was caught setting a captured yautja free and aiding him to escape. The predator had been caught in a raid on one of the outer rim planets. Over night J'agannath lost all respect and command. It had been Aine who stopped Mas-T'Eall from delivering the killing blow after J'agannath suffered a crippling beating. Kujhade hadn't been impressed with his daughter's lack of bloodlust, but nonetheless the Hish leader let J'agannath go, commanding no one touch him. He lay for hours on the hard cage floor a circular ring used for fighting, bleeding from multiple wounds, and swimming in and out of consciousness. He eventually woke up days later in Aine's room; a nasty head wound having wiped half his memory. He didn't remember what happened, what had led to him being in such bad shape. For months he couldn't do anything by himself. Both Mas-T'Eall and Kujhade had seen to that, having broken his hands and a number of other useful bones that could helped him being more self- reliant. After he healed, he was remanded to the ship's hull with the 'Eta' as they were called, otherwise known as "the untouchables." He lived in the pitch black with the others for a year before Aine was finally able to get Kujhade to agree to let him accompany her 'as a servant.' The female was sneaky in giving him more and more freedom, her methods not noticed by the Hish commanders.

If she asked him to follow her to the end of the universe without any idea of what they might meet, he'd do it without hesitation.

"Miss Aine. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing." She sat down on a stone post next to him. "Is our equipment still sending the false information?" She paused. "Probably a stupid question since we would have been chopped up into little pieces by now if it wasn't."

"Not entirely. Kujhade could be biding his time. He's famous for that."

Aine caught sight of the pure white scar on the right side of his head, a lasting reminder to the punishment he received so long ago. _Almost a decade…Yeah Kujhade is famous for a lot of things._

"You are taking a big risk J'agannath, being here."

"We all are." He didn't take his eyes off his task.

"You more than us. It'll be the second time you're defying authority."

He finally looked up and then shrugged. "Never was one for rules."

Aine clicked in amusement. "Neither am I apparently." She grew somber. "Thank you."

He glanced at her again, quiet for a long while. Then. "You're welcome."

They were interrupted by the other three: Ra'J, M'aKal and Yem-Yn. To Aine's surprise the yautja elder appeared too, though keeping a distance. She didn't know if it was respect or wariness. J'agannath's amber irises followed the female as she took a slight right away from them and went to a large cage on four legs. Happy chattering filled the air as she drew closer to the enclosure. Aine had been about to thank the woman for her hospitality when the Elder suddenly hissed.

"You do not enter my property in camouflage Young Blood," she snapped.

Aine felt her comrades all tense except for J'agannath who cast an unperturbed glance around the clearing before continuing his sharpening of his blade.

A yautja appeared, his cloaking device fizzing out statically, his posture sheepish. "I'm sorry Elder."

A small creature with four arms and a long tail crawled out of the open cage, its nimble fingers grasping the woman's arm.

"It's alright. Don't do it again."

The male would have to been stupid to not hear the warning in her words. "Elder Dahl'K sent me for you."

"Did he now." Noni didn't take her eyes off the tiny animal sitting in her arms. "Well you can return to him and tell him that once Aud has been fed I and my guests will be along."

The yautja didn't move. "He said immediately…m-m- my Elder."

Noni stared at him unblinking for several seconds. "Then walk slowly Jaanah."

The young predator scratched the side of his helmet in a nervous twitch. "Yes my Elder." He turned and walked back into the trees.

Noni watched him go before turning around, giving Aine's group a ghostly smile and heading back into her house with the creature chattering happily.

…

Strangya cursed the blazing suns for the millionth time. Every day seemed hotter than the day before. And he liked hot, just not melt-your-skin-off hot. Normally he didn't go swimming so early in the morning, but he decided to make an exception. He sank into the water up to his nose, keeping his airways open just above the surface of the water. He shut his eyes, letting his muscles relax for the first time in weeks.

"I would have thought the water evaporated by now."

Strangya kept his eyes shut. "I would have gone into a depression if it had."

Paya didn't know if his father was being funny or not. Apparently Strangya felt his son's confusion. "It was a joke kid, lighten up."

Paya ignored his father's comment. He sat on the pool's edge and looked into the distance where the Hish ship still hovered in the atmosphere. Strangya watched him for a second and then glanced at the ship too.

"-Couple of us are working on a project. If the calculations are right, should be enough power to blow that shithole out of the sky."

_So that's where he's been._ Strangya had been gone for hours in the last few days, no sign of him in the village anywhere.

"Something illegal no doubt."

"Only illegal if you're caught." The older predator grunted as he hauled himself out of the pool. "And it isn't illegal."

"What is it?"

Strangya shot him an amused look. "I'm not telling you."

Paya stood up. "Why not? I could help you if it's mechanical."

Strangya shook his head again, though more amused than a 'no'. "Fine. Let's go."

…..

**Atmosphere of Yautja Prime**

**Three miles above ground **

**Village: Prime**

Kujhade was in a foul mood and everyone knew it. He had already incinerated one idiot who hadn't kept his mouth shut when the he called for silence. The ashes must have hit the earth far below by now, either that or they were still blowing in the wind. Kujhade didn't know or care.

Aine should have reported to him hours ago and while he still had the direct feed link to her gauntlet, it didn't set well with him that he hadn't had a report from her directly. She had taken J'agannath with her, an act that didn't please him in the least. The traitorous fuck wasn't trustworthy as far as Kujhade was concerned. And there were rumors. Just rumors. –Circulating among his ship about Aine being a little too easy, a little too concerned with J'agannath's feelings. He didn't need his 'ace-in-the-hole' as the Oomans said, to be swayed by a radical he should have had executed immediately. However some compassionate side of Aine shined that night when Mas-T'Eall's club swung down towards J'agannath's head. If she hadn't intervened the Eta would have been scrubbing brain and gore off the floor and walls for a week. Kujhade remembered a small level of relief wash over him at the thought that he wouldn't smell brain. He had smelled it before and it wasn't pleasant. Still it was the least of what J'agannath deserved after what he did.

_Some day. When Aine isn't looking…maybe I'll send her on an Outer Rim mission once this is over. With her gone…that fuck can be taken care of. He's getting up there in years; almost as old as I. I'll tell her he passed on naturally. And incinerate the pauk de body so she'll never know. I'll make sure he feels everything until he takes his last breath._

"My honorable."

He growled harshly, loud enough for the scout calling for his attention to emit a nervous musk. _WEAK_. "What!?"

T'jank'e sat quietly in the corner having not made a peep wisely Kujhade thought as he turned to face the messenger.

"Sheik-Mell found something you m-m-m-may f-f-find interesting."

...

The control room was lit in a soft red glow and stifling hot but Kujhade didn't care as he stormed in. "What is so damn important? And it better be good."

Sheik-Mell, one of his two remaining trusted commanders glanced at him. "You tell me." He pointed at the screen of a computer.

"What am I looking at?" Kujhade snarled, not in the mood to put forth much effort to figure out what the issue was on his own.

"We thought it was strange that Aine's feeds were so- peaceful? No scuffles what so ever, just leisurely walks through the woods around the village. So Yani-Gan played around with a few things and this is what we've found." Sheik-Mell tapped a finger at the screen again. "This is their location right now, just outside the village-"

"Sheik-Mell." Kujhade cut off. "Now I would hope that you wouldn't disturb me for a commentary on Aine's travels."

"She's at a home of one of the Elders."

"Maybe she's killing the fucker."

Sheik-Mell shook his head. "She's been there since last night and there is no sign of violence."

"Maybe they aren't home you dolt. Maybe she took up residence at an abandoned shack. You don't know and I don't appreciate being dragged down here for a-!"

A picture came through in an ultraviolet filter suddenly on screen. There were four larger figures on screen, one sitting down, its hands moving. _J'agannath. He was always sharpening his combi-stick._

One figure was moving away into the trees and the last two figures, both clearly female, were half facing each other. Then one of them moved an odd lump connected to her. It took Kujhade a minute to realize it was some sort of animal. The figure disappeared into the house.

A boiling rage built in Kujhade's stomach, but he held himself in check, barely. It was still too early to label his daughter a deserter. Maybe she was laying a trap for the Elder. Pretend to do no harm and then strike. _She wouldn't do that to me._


	26. Chapter 26

J'agannath heard the soft footfalls before he saw the person, but he didn't need to turn around to know who it was. He knew the habits of his traveling companions right down to their own gaits; this one was different. He briefly wondered how he should address the female Elder who had opened her home to them. Would she be insulted if he faced her completely, a lower status confronting someone of higher status? _Only if I'm camouflaged apparently. _He decided to face her, worst case she got mad and he would turn away.

She looked taken back at first by him turning fully to look at her. "We're just waiting on your clan mates," she explained awkwardly and then looked away clearly embarrassed.

He let a few moments of silence pass between them before he spoke. "Thank you for allowing us to stay here." He faced the river that passed through her backyard, tiny fish gliding along with the strong current.

He saw Noni glance at him from the corner of his eye. "My pleasure." She paced away. "I wasn't about to let Dahl'K treat you with disrespect. We need you whether he cares to eventually admit it or not.

"I do not want to see my home taken from me or anyone else. If only Kujhade would be willing to coexist…"

"He won't." J'agannath responded, his tone a little more menacing that he had meant. "Kujhade doesn't share."

"I know." Noni agreed sadly. "And it's unfortunate that this is what its come to. People are going to have to die to. I keep hoping A'luet will come up with something-and then I remind myself he is only seventeen seasons. It is not fair to place such a heavy burden on a child. He's only been recently blooded for Cetanu's sakes."

"With the right guidance he'll make it."

"At what cost?" She asked softly. "He may very well save all of us, not a drop of blood spilled on our side if we are lucky…but what damage will he take? What will he sacrifice?"

J'agannath didn't answer, proving her unanswered questions to be valid and unknown. They didn't continue the conversation as the rest of his group met them.

"Any creepers creeping around invisible?" M'aKal was by far the most comical, a strange attribute to his race.

A funny expression came over the yautja elder's face, like she didn't know how to react; entertainment finally won before she became serious. "Not anymore. I fried the one after Jaanah."

M'aKal's mirth died in an instant. "Oh." Next to him Aine studied Noni, then she smirked.

Noni passed the still stunned Hish and started her way towards the village, knowing they'd follow.

"She was kidding you moron." She heard someone shoot M'aKal's way right before she became aware of a presence falling into step next to her. She shifted her eyes as much as she could without being blaringly obvious. It was J'agannath.

…

**Unused Shack**

**3,000 Nok from Village **

Paya had backed out of entering the small building with Strangya the day before, an episode of sudden anxiety hitting him, which made him want to die in embarrassment. Today he pushed all apprehension away and entered the building cautiously behind his father.

Five other yautja stood or sat in the small environment. They looked up and froze. "Whose this?" One asked brusquely. "Did you not hear me say tell no one?

"Relax butch." Strangya snapped. "Paya is my son. So you can keep your dreads attached to your head and take a breath. I'm quite certain none of you have anyone to tell anyways."

The head yautja growled lowly and went back to his work of welding a piece of metal. Paya stopped looking around when he noticed the large cylinder in front of him.

"Is that a turbine engine?" He drifted a little closer, awed at the size.

"Yeah. What of it?" Another yautja asked, earning a warning hiss from Strangya.

Paya didn't respond as he studied it and then noticed Kulak towards the back of the group, twisting wires. P'sy's earlier comment came back to him immediately.

_"Then let's go to the Elders, mass together and blow the fuckers out of the sky." _

_ P'sy 'tsked.' "With what? Tell you what, you find the weapon on this planet to shoot that ship down and I'll be the one to pull the trigger."_

"You're building something to take down that ship…" It wasn't a question.

Strangya held a torch out to him. "Want to help rewrite history?" Paya considered the yautja for a moment, vaguely aware that he was looking Strangya dead straight in the eyes and the older predator wasn't insulted.

He took a breath and wrapped his fingers around the torch.

….

**POV of Issa**

I was pretty certain that Dahl'K had seen my eye rolling several times, the way his mandibles curled each time he looked my way confirmed my belief, but I didn't care. I thought about discreetly flipping him off a few times while itching my head too but that seemed way obvious even to me. Noni had returned with the Hish, late on purpose which I had the outmost admiration for. She was the only one who could outwardly disrespect Dahl'K, maybe it was because she was T'sey-s's niece and the old man let her do it. Dahl'K had wanted to say something to her, it was comical to watch him barely contain himself as she entered the room, but T'sey-s sitting nearby made his trap stay permanently shut. _Take that you bitch._

"You are the one they call Aine then…"

Dahl'K jaw cracked as T'sey-s addressed the female Hish. Dahl'K may have been the Tribunal leader for five years but when T'sey-s was in the room, Dahl'K took an automatic demotion. Next to me my brother hid a smile.

Aine inclined her head. "Yes Elder."

"T'sey-s will do." The old man straightened in his chair. "Do they know yet? Of your decision to not return to the ship?"

"Yes." She lowered her eyes. "Kujhade called all Hish back to the ship this morning. That was the last broadcast we got before Yem-Yn dismantled our wrist computers.

I found myself looking at their wrists that were all bare save for the scars made by the teeth that holds the device to our arms.

"And you don't think that was a bad idea?" Dahl'K saw his opportunity to get a jibe in. "Leaves us a little blind…? Now you are as ignorant as us as to what is or isn't going to happen."

Aine gave him a half bored glance, obviously knowing who was at the top of the food chain and who wasn't. "Maybe." She agreed. "-But then again, our hostess would most likely be in the middle of scrubbing her house clean due to our innards decorating her walls."

Dahl'K narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to no doubt spout more stupid shit but T'sey-s silenced him with a growl.

Aine wasn't done with her explanation. "Kujhade would have set our self-destructs off if I hadn't decided on that _bad idea._"

I shifted my lean against the wall. "Don't feel you have to give _him_ an explanation to anything, he just thinks he's the queen of the room."

Dahl'K stood up abruptly and faced me, coming close enough that J'mper growled next to me. On my other side An'nu glared at the leader too. For once I was glad I had two guys to back me up.

T'sey-s banged the table, open palmed with a surprising amount of strength despite his age. "Are you done?"

"Yeah Issa, are you done?" Dahl'K grated in my face. I just watched him calmly. _Damn. Where did this strength of patience come from? Five years ago I would have been pulling his intestines out through his mouth._

"I didn't mean her."

A flicker of pure fury passed through the yautja's face before he stiffly turned away and sat in his seat.

The oldest predator in Aine's group was watching me, which gave me the creeps for some reason, and then he was staring at Dahl'K. "You are going to have a slim chance at beating the Hish if you continue to fight with others."

"I don't need a lecture from an outsider on how to mind my manners.

'Throw him the fuck out.' J'mper's hands were agitated. I agreed. _Can we? _

Dahl'K noticed T'sey-s watching him calmly, his chin resting on his hand and yet that didn't seem to faze the Tribunal leader. "I still think it's a trap T'sey-s. Gweith was right in saying how exactly do we know they aren't setting us up for slaughter? It is awfully strange in my book that _she's_ so cozy with us, the leaders of this village and planet. Have you been out to socialize among the villagers?"

"No." Aine became annoyed in an instant. "Someone has been spreading rumors among them. The only one who had the balls to approach us and was decent enough was Rig'r."

Dahl'K tsked. "Rig'r is a deaf old dolt who doesn't know night from day." T'sey-s shot him a glare.

"Really." Aine cocked her head. "He seemed quite articulate to me."

Glowering, Dahl'K glanced around the room and landed his gaze on An'nu and me again. "Where's your brother?" He barked.

I snorted. "How should I know? I'm not his Lou-dte Kalei, nor do I hold his daily itinerary in my hand."

"I do not believe a Bad Blood should be bouncing around unchecked during a time of crisis."

"He's not a Bad Blood." I had had enough of this ass's continual bitching. "Strangya has done more in his 127 years of existence then you have in your 300."

This time I didn't quite comprehend him as his hand closed around my throat and shoved me backwards into the wall, slapping my head hard against it. But the shock only lasted a second. I vaguely heard T'sey-s spitting something in our direction and then An'nu stopping J'mper from killing Dahl'K. I opened my eyes, trying to breath as Dahl'K cut my air supply off entirely, his eyes half crazed, as I was sure his kill gland was taking over his reasoning. Then I kneed him, hard. The effect was immediate; his fingers retracting from my neck as he sank to the ground, paralyzed in pain. I coughed trying to breathe and then I straightened to meet T'sey-s's gaze, humiliation heating my face; there was an odd expression on his face.

"My Elder. I am sorry." I had to leave the silent room. As I passed the Hish I could feel the admiration shining off two of the males but I ignored them.

…..

**POV of An'nu**

No one spoke for some time after Issa left. I wanted to follow her but didn't know how to without adding to the awkward situation. Dahl'K made the first move, slowly rising to his full height his movements jerky.

Next to me J'mper stared at the Tribunal leader. Then he spoke, a rare action. "Touch her again and I'll ignore the honor code. You'll be dead before you know it."

Dahl'K let out one growl…trying to be menacing? He failed, still obviously in pain from Issa's kneeing to his nuts. _Fucking asshole. He deserved it. Too bad she reacted so fast…._

J'mper left my side and with one respectful nod to T'sey-s, he followed in my sister's wake.

T'sey-s sat down with a soft groan. "My apologies that you had to witness that, sometimes people need to be reminded of their place in the world."

Aine's features remained stoic but somehow I could tell the whole thing amused her. I had to admit, I was too. How many times in one lifetime could a yautja witness another knee the Tribunal leader of a village and not be executed on the spot? _This will be the only time in my life when I see this. Damn._

T'sey-s was still talking.

"You may remain in the village from now on. It is not safe for large distances to be between us. Noni, you are moving in with me." The female elder opened her mouth to argue it appeared, but T'sey-s cut her off. "There is no room for arguments. Aine, there is a house used behind my home for the Ancients when they visit, you may use it if you so choose."

"Thank you Elder."

T'sey-s took a breath and then struggled to his feet. "Until the next fun meeting." Behind him, Dahl'K shot him a look, one Noni returned.

…

I found Issa and J'mper sitting on a large flat rock jutting out over the U'sl-kwe River. I entered the river up to my ankles, the cool water feeling good compared to the blazingly hot day. "You okay?"

Issa glanced at me, her face blank. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

I sighed purposely a little dramatic. "Well I don't know Is, maybe because an asshole just pinned you against a wall…? That's only a guess."

She glowered at me. "Drop it An'nu before I drown you in this river. It'll be appropriate considering its name."

I snorted and sat on the edge of the rock, J'mper moving to give me more room. "The River of Death doesn't scare me and neither do you."

"He's just pissed off I blew him off all those years ago." She muttered.

That got my attention. "What? Blew off who?"

She flicked a dread over her shoulder. "Who do you think? Dahl'K."

I wasn't getting it. The whole thing just didn't make sense to me. "What about Dahl'K?"

"God An'nu." She stood up in a flash. "Did you cheat your way into your rank? You can't be this dense."

"Don't get your panties into a twist. When did he try to get with you and why wasn't I told?"

"Four years ago." She sat back down, miserable. "And I didn't tell you because I can handle myself thank you very much."

'Can't argue with that.' J'mper's upper mandibles twitched in amusement.

'Shut up.' I signed back, making him trill. Silence surrounded us, something that none of us seemed to want to break. Finally I did.

"Dahl'K did have a point. I haven't seen Strangya around much."

"Paya too." J'mper agreed. "I haven't seen him today."

I glanced down at his hands. "You tired of signing?"

'Sue me.'

I grinned and then looked into the distance where the Hish ship still sat in the sky flocks of Ho'rks, large birds looking like the tiny Ooman planet insects-ants I remembered, as they glided by. Issa turned to see what I was looking at.

_Some day I'll take A'luet to the Ooman planet…some day._

"You know we'll be okay right An?"

I took a breath. "I hope so." She didn't respond. I don't think she knew what to say.

…

**Unused Shack**

**3,000 Nok from Village **

"I can't reach you idiot, my arm isn't long enough."

"Maybe I'll break it for you being an insolent shit and then it'll be long enough."

"Ell-osde pauk."

Strangya sat in the shadows with Paya next to him. He kept it together barely when his father started making flapping gestures with his hands, mimicking a mouth.

"Well someone is going to have to climb in there then, the switch needs to be installed, otherwise this is nothing but a hunk of metal." The yautja Paya had come to know as a perpetual crab-ass, Guan-thwei, gave the modified turbine a kick.

Everyone went quiet. Soon Paya became aware of eyes landing on him. Strangya soon noticed.

"No."

"Why not?" Guan-thwei's face twisted in disdain.

Strangya straightened. "Because that _hunk of metal_ is no different than the gas pipe to a Ooman stove and you know what I'm talking about too Guan-thwei, don't pretend you don't. One mistake-one wrong move and that thing can blow sky fucking high. And my son isn't going to be in the device that has the potential to detonate like that."

"It makes sense."

The whitish-blue irises creeped Paya out a little especially whenever Strangya focused so intently on him.

"T-jeirk males are smaller generally, aren't they? Leaner…I'll do it."

Strangya's eyes shifted away. Paya waited, a little nervous as to what the predator's response would be.

….

The turbine was much bigger than Paya previously thought. Its cylinder shape was deceiving. He balanced himself on the edge of the machine letting his feet dangle inside. Various colors blinked at different depths below his feet. A firm hand grasped his shoulder, holding him steady.

"Try to grip anywhere that does not have the lights flashing and once you're in there, try to touch the sides as least possible." For once Strangya looked worried, something Paya thought interesting since he had only been around his father consistently for the past two weeks. He nodded to show he understood.

"These are the charges and the switch." Kulak appeared and held the bundle out to him. Paya took it, feeling like he was on autopilot and put them into his pack.

His stomach in knots, he held onto the side and carefully lowered himself inside. Something clanged, giving him an adrenaline rush as someone above him hissed a curse.

"Maybe we should wait outside?" Someone else asked. There was silence and then- "What?"

Paya forced himself to ignore everything but what he was doing and as cautiously as he could, began to climb down inside the machine. The light above him grew smaller as he was shrouded in darkness. Eventually he reached the floor.

"You there yet!" Guan-thwei's yell echoed, bouncing off the metal walls, making Paya's eardrums ring.

"I can hear you, I'm not deaf!" He snapped.

"Sack of insolent shit." He heard the yautja hiss.

"Step off." Strangya growled. "Move." Paya saw his father's figure replace the bulkier predator. "Do you see the hole?"

Paya studied his surroundings. "Yes." He touched the section.

"The switch fits into that hole, you're going to have to screw it in. There's a tool with the switch."

He pulled the toggle switch loose along with a long skinny tool with a weird point on the end. Something he had never seen before. "What is this?"

"Asking stupid questions too, you sure that kid is yours Strangya?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to control myself if you don't shut the hell up." Strangya looked down at Paya. "It's a Ooman toy, works well, just fit the end of it into the fasteners you see hanging off the ends of the switch and twist them into the wall until they are tight."

Paya did as he was told. "They're in."

"There should be three holes above the switch. Snap each charge into them. And then climb out."

Hoping he did everything right, he knew if he didn't he could very well end up a charred corpse while climbing out of the turbine. He started the climb out, scarcely breathing. Only once he felt the humidity again upon reaching the top did he suck in air; the claustrophobia melting away.

"You okay kid?"

Paya nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay…"


End file.
